The Other Girl
by valentine999
Summary: A girl appears to Matt in a dream, she's not one of the five but Matt claims she's just as important. Who is she? I vow to complete this fic...at some point in my life.
1. Distant Star

Hey, Necropolis is coming out 30th October (two days before my birthday!) but I cannot wait that long! So I've written a fic that starts from where Nightrise left off! Peru; Jamie and Scott have turned up…it's been like two days. So enjoy! There is going to be some romance people!

* * *

Matt was falling. It took him a while to realise he was falling pretty fast. Hot air rushed passed him; the frayed edges of his shirt were singed as he fell into an ever impending darkness. His dark hair was being ruffled by the wicked wind and shrill sounds filled his ears. He was going to die. He knew that. Oh well, there was no stopping it now, he may as well enjoy the ride. He spread out his arms as though flying, letting hot sparks snap at his fingertips. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he could smell burning but the desire not to react to it was too powerful. So nothing happened, no visions came, no ability to stop him from falling came. For once, nothing happened. He smiled.

"Matt!" A girl's voice whispered in his ear. His bright blue eyes snapped open. No one was around, he was still falling. But he knew that voice, he knew it so well. He wanted to hear it again, one last time. A face floated out of the depths of a past he had tried to forget, but it wasn't a clear picture at all. He could just about make out dark hair, hazel eyes…He frustrated him that it was so close, on the edge of his mind, and he couldn't remember. The desire to find that memory meant that he didn't want to fall anymore, he didn't want to die. He tried to move, to correct his body to see where he was going, but his body was immobilised. He couldn't move a muscle, now he guessed he had to use his power. Summon it again, just smell the burning…he couldn't find it. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't even open his mouth to scream the horrified, twisted scream that was building up inside of him. He was gaining speed. He tried everything to get his body moving, but nothing. Inside his head he could hear the screaming, over and over, again and again, it just kept going…

Matt woke up. He was drenched in a cold sweat and shaking. He sat up and threw the damp bed sheet off himself. He clamped his head in his hands and finally screamed. A long piercing scream that he never thought he'd be capable of. He never wanted to fell like that again; the helplessness of his situation overwhelmed him. And, try as he might, he couldn't help but realise the dream was trying to tell him one thing; he couldn't survive without his power. And his dreams were usually right.

"Matteo?" Pedro called from the other room.

"Matt?!" Richard ran in to find Matt, sat, shaking, on his bed. "What is it? What happened?" The man ran to him and turned the lamp beside Matt on. The boy's eyes were bloodshot, he looked scared and, for some reason, incredibly vulnerable…fragile.

"I've seen her before." Matt said through gasps. He stood up and almost immediately fell over. Jamie ran into the room, looking with concern from Matt to Richard and back again.

"Who?" The boy asked and moved aside as Pedro walked in, looking equally as concerned.

"The fifth!" Matt stood up again and pushed passed Richard.

"The fifth gatekeeper you mean?" Professor Chambers also came in and quickly translated for Pedro who nodded. Matt walked, stumbled, to a table in his room where a jug of water was. He poured some into a glass and drank it in one. Letting the cool liquid soothe his insides. He caught view of a mirror and remembered more of his dream.

"No," he said slowly. "She isn't one of us." He shook his head. "She called to me, I was going to die." He turned back to everyone, "she didn't want me to-"

"Matt," Richard began but was silenced by a look from the boy.

"I _know _I know her." Matt said, thinking fast. "She's not one of the five, but she's important." He said quietly.

"How can you know that?" Jamie asked.

"I don't know." Matt rubbed his eyes. "I just do; she was trying to stop me, she wanted to help!" He walked back to his bed and sat down. He knew why Richard was looking at him like that; Matt was acting slightly hysterical. But why could no one understand that it was important to find her? "She needs me." He thought again, "I need her." He shrugged.

"But why would Scar not contact you before this girl?" Jamie asked, "surely all five of us need to get together." He speculated.

"I want to talk to Miss Ashwood," Matt said quickly, ignoring Jamie's comment. Matt's blue eyes appraised Professor Chambers who took a moment before she realised why Matt was looking at her.

"Oh well, the time difference means phoning London now is…a bit silly." She finished with a smile as she saw Matt realise his mistake.

"I'll phone her later then." He said as though he finished the conversation. Jamie was about to talk again when he saw Richard shake his head and decided not to say anything. Everyone left the room. Matt lay back down on his bed and glanced out of the window besides him. It was a star filled sky that looked straight back at him. He wiped his forehead in exasperation, realising that looking for this girl was like looking for some distant star in this galaxy, so far away and untouchable that the task seemed impossible. But he knew she was calling to him, just like the other dreams of contact. He knew he had to find her. He just had to know why.

* * *

What're we thinking people, good? Bad? Alright?

I started typing the first line and then this big plan came into my head for the story…it's quite a good plan, if I do say so myself!

Please review!


	2. A Girl Called Mia

"Mia?" A voice sounded from nowhere and Mia tilted her head back, blew a strand of dark hair out of her face and smiled. Anyone looking at her now would walk by her, take in the pretty face hidden by melancholy, shake their heads and walk on. She had the reminisce of someone who was happy, but caged and you could tell she had turned her life around. She wore a pretty yellow dress that you'd find on someone ten years younger than her, flat white shoes and a white ribbon holding her hair back. A normal, upper class teenager, hanging out with friends watching a match at Wimbledon. She couldn't quite believe she was here; two months ago she had been missing school, running away from her home regularly and had even been in trouble with the police. This is how she ended up here. "Mia!"

"I heard you the first time." She muttered under her breath and turned around, "yes?" She asked politely to a man sat behind her. His name was John Rossetti, he had brown greying hair, watery blue eyes and had loosened his tie. This rugged look suited him, it's what he was famous for; the rich, posh business man who didn't give a damn about anything. it's what Mia liked him most for.

"You going to get some food?" He asked and Mia contemplated. John Rossetti had fostered Mia through the LEAF project; set up by the government to deal with juvenile delinquents. When John had first met her and lived with her he expected to have to tame an impolite, surly, disobedient teenager. Instead he was met by a polite, obedient and extremely intelligent girl. Even though she didn't admit it she was suited to the life John gave her; every girl, at some point in their childhood, wanted to be a princess and she got just that.

"No thank you; I'm not hungry. Would you like me to get you some?" Mia asked she knew he had been in Paris for the weekend and had got back this morning; he must be tired. He shook his head with a smile; she'd been living with him for a month and a half and he had still not got used to the fact that she talked so politely. For a girl that came from the run down centre of Ipswich she certainly was different from the rest of them. He came down and sat beside her, right up next to the court, they both clapped as Nadal returned a serve so fast he won the point. "Anna says you had trouble sleeping last night." John whispered to Mia and noted the way she froze as he said this.

"Anna also told me the sun revolves around the Earth." Mia said indifferently; Anna was their housekeeper, she was known for saying crazy and impossible things. John sighed.

"She says you've been having bad dreams for at least four days-"

"What does it matter?" Mia snapped; annoyed that her weaknesses should be the concerns of others. "Sorry," she said quietly; knowing that she shouldn't talk to her guardian like that.

"I think you're stressed is all." He put a hand on her hair and stroked it. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked finally and she shook her head so that his hand fell from it.

"I can handle it." She said stubbornly. They went back to watching the game in silence. But Mia's mind began to wander; Anna had said she'd been having bad dreams for four days…she'd been having them since she was eight years old. Since that day. Her eyes clouded and she shook her head to knock herself out of the sadness that sometimes overwhelmed her. They had just got worse in the past four days, she had no idea why. Little did Mia know that it was because, four days ago, the night of Inti Raymi had come to the world. Evil Star had risen. The gate had opened. They were waiting for her.

* * *

"Matt that's not really much to go by." Miss Ashwood said sternly; she sounded like an old school teacher, scolding a child for wasting her time. Everyone was sat around Professor Chamber's diary room, everyone except Scott who was still resting. Miss Ashwood could be seen on a television screen on the end of the table; Matt was sat at the opposite end. "A girl with hazel eyes and brown hair is important, and you want me to find her?" She sounded sceptical.

"It's the same as going to find the fifth…Scar," Matt said slowly, looking at Jamie to reassure him that was the name.

"It's not the same at all." Ashwood said coldly but she tried to be consoling; Matt was clearly still traumatised. "Scar is looking for you in return, calling out so that you may hear her. This girl isn't-"

"Haven't you been listening?" Matt said suddenly. "That girl called to me in the dream, she's trying to contact us too."

"Perhaps," Richard said slowly, "this time, it was just a dream." Matt looked in disbelief at him.

"When has anything ever been a dream with me?" Matt said quietly.

"From our knowledge," Miss Ashwood said quickly so that Richard didn't have to reply, "we have only ever been told to find five; and now you're asking us to find six. It makes no sense."

"No," matt said desperately; why was it so difficult for them to understand? "Listen." He said commandingly; the leader in him coming out. "There are the five, four boys and a girl. But there's someone, some power outside of that but connected, and that's _this _girl." He sighed, it was difficult to explain. "Could you just…" he thought, "research some more?" He knew he was asking the impossible from the outraged look that crossed Miss Ashwood's face.

"Thousands of years of research and you're asking for more?!" She said in anger but calmed down almost immediately. "Matt," she put on a motherly tone, "please just focus on the task at hand; finding the fifth and searching for the Old One's next move." Matt could see she was genuinely concerned for him as she talked. She was about to talk again when Pedro shouted out in Spanish; everyone snapped their heads around to see him get up from the table excitedly and, still limping slightly, ran from the room. "What did he say?" Miss Ashwood asked Professor Chambers who looked equally as confused.

"He said, "I know!"" Professor Chambers replied. A moment later Pedro returned would a few papers in his hands. They were ageing, yellowing and crumbling with every second they were in sunlight. Pedro talked quickly to Professor Chambers who nodded and took the papers from his hand. She read the part where Pedro was pointing to and got the same excitement that the boy had. "This," she pointed to the page so everyone could see, "is a page from that diary of the Spanish monk, St Joseph of Cordoba." She said quickly.

"Those are some pages we took for Salamanda's place." Matt said and sat up straighter.

"Here," Professor Chambers pointed, "there's mention of a girl…_apart from the five…she," _Chamber's stopped.

"What is it?" Miss Ashwood said with growing interest.

"Here it has the word "rains," as in the water that falls from the sky, but that makes no sense…_she rains_…you'd expect it to be "reigns," when talking about a person-"

"What does it matter?" Ashwood said quickly, "keep reading." Professor Chambers nodded and read on.

"_She rains over the last gate" _the professor read as though reading a poem_, "burns through their souls, protector of her saviour; she is the veil between light and dark." _Chambers turned over the page quickly and read on._ "She will save him. She will save him." _The professor's voice turned ominous, "_those who find her first shall win the world." _The woman stopped reading and looked back at those around the table.

"What does that mean?" Jamie spoke quietly and for the first time since the meeting had begun.

"Break it down, bit by bit." Ashwood said quietly.

"_Apart from the five." _Matt repeated, a slight hint of triumph entering his voice. "She isn't part of the gatekeepers."

"_She rains over the last gate," _Richard said quietly, "that could mean a great number of things." He said, "what's the next line?"

"_burns through their souls," _Jamie repeated, " I guess it's referring to the five; she's inside all of us…" he blushed, "that makes no sense."

"No, no." Miss Ashwood said, "There is a common connection between all of the five, perhaps it is her…" she speculated, "next line?"

"_Protector of her saviour_ ," Jamie said, "who could her saviour be?"

"Perhaps Matt?" Chambers said and glanced over to the boy who had become somewhat quiet in comparison to five minutes before. His blue eyes flicked over to her and he nodded.

"_The veil between light and dark._" Richard said, "the language makes it seem as though she is a protector of the five-"

"Why would the five, who are going to save our world, need protecting?" Ashwood said and Richard shrugged.

"_She will save him. She will save him." _Matt said quietly, "that's referring to me." He said adamantly.

"How do you know?" Jamie asked.

"In that dream, she was going to save me." Matt said as though that finished the matter. _"Those who find her first shall win the world." _Matt finished the paragraph, "that's obviously referring to either side of the war; us and the old ones."

"Either way she seems like the be all and end all of this war." Miss Ashwood nodded as she spoke. "we'll find her." She said after a moment, "I'm sorry Matt, I should have believed you." matt said nothing and leant back in his chair.

"Wait a second." Jamie said, interrupting the mood, "if she's so important, how come I didn't meet her in the past?" He asked and everyone went quiet as they thought about it. "How come the Nexus didn't know about her?" He looked around at everyone as though he couldn't believe they had agreed on something. "How do you not know, if it's the case that we don't know about her, that the monk isn't talking about the fifth?" He said loudly.

"There were rumours," Miss Ashwood finally admitted, "but that girl had been forgotten. So lost to us that the Nexus forgot her existence." She said almost to herself.

"What?" Matt said. Ashwood looked over to him, not that she could look obviously, and smiled.

"A girl existed of that description, a protector of the five, a saviour…whatever you wish to call her. But we, the Nexus, never expected to hear from her again and slowly, she was forgotten."

"Why did you forget about her?" Richard asked and the woman sighed.

"She betrayed us." She said quietly.

* * *

Ooooh…why did she do that?

Find out next time :D

Review it!


	3. History

Ok guys, I know in the books it goes on and on about how they're all 14, does horowitz have an obsession with that age? Alex rider was 14 wasn't he? And the grrosham grange kid? i dunno. WHATEVER! Well for the sake of this fic let them be older…older!

* * *

"What did she do?" Jamie asked after a few moments of silence. Miss Ashwood sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Like I said, it's become mere legend to us now, so telling you what I know would probably not be the truth." She said but she could sense Matt was getting restless with the lack of action. "_But," _she said pointedly and Matt's attention snapped over to her, "I will tell you what we know." The woman sat back and Jamie smirked; she had the voice of a woman about to tell a few children a bedtime story. "This girl, whatever her name is, was found by the first; by Matt. She was part of the protection of the five; people believed that once the five were together they'd only ever be truly joined unless she was there. Have you ever looked at the symbol of the Power of Five?" The screen changed to show the symbol, "five circles, enclosed, protected, by one." She paused so everyone could check that the symbol matched the description. It did, _(A/N: it does!) _and everyone could tell she was debating whether or not she should continue. The screen changed back to her face.

"Then?" Richard prompted her.

"Well, they fell in love." She said simply and everyone in the room turned to Matt, Jamie silently laughing at the look on his face. Matt blushed, still not quite used to the attention anyone gave him.

"Why would she betray us if she loved the first?" Richard asked, looking as confused as Matt felt. Miss Ashwood shrugged.

"People say Matt refused to tell anyone. When she was gone she was never spoken of again-"

"Gone?" Professor Chambers looked surprised.

"Yes, when the five trapped the Old Ones in another dimension, they sent her with them." She sat up straight, "that's why we think she must have done something incredibly wrong." The woman said sadly. "She was reborn; as were you Matt, Jamie, Pedro, in this time. To help us; we have to find her before the Old Ones do." She sounded as if she had ended the matter.

"He banished her before the five defeated the Old Ones." Jamie said quietly, everyone turned to him.

"What?" Matt said.

"You banished her before…or at least…she wasn't around. And Matt, he was, well, heartbroken." Jamie shrugged and then when he saw everyone looking at him uncomprehendingly he leant forwards to explain. "When I went back; that girl wasn't around and Matt, I could tell he'd lost something. He never mentioned her, at all, not once. But I could tell, see it in his eyes, and hear it in his voice that he had lost something. At first I thought it was his purpose; when you've been training for so long for war and then you win…you don't really have much left to do. But Scar, Inti, Sapling, Flint…they all had something afterwards. Matt talked about rebuilding the world but then what was left for him? He lost something." Jamie repeated and looked over to Matt. The boy's cold blue eyes appraised him for a moment before he ran a hand through his dark hair and said no more. On second thought, perhaps Matt just didn't care about much anyway.

"Either way," Miss Ashwood said slowly, "she was gone from the world. And she has, according to Matt, been reborn." There was silence for a few moments as everyone tried to take this in. "We now have three tasks, in order of priority; find Scar, find the other girl and find the Old One's next move." And so she began to talk of the rumours they had heard about the Old One's plans but Matt wasn't listening. He was thinking about what it was that the girl could have done; after all it was _he _who sent her away. What could she have done to hurt him so badly? He supposed if someone betrayed him to the Old Ones it would mean the end of the world and that would be bad enough.

"Matt?" He heard Richard say his name and he looked up, the screen was blank; Miss Ashwood must have put the phone down a while ago. He hadn't even noticed.

"Yeah?" He looked around, Pedro had gone to tend to Scott, Jamie and Professor Chambers had gone to the Supermarket to get food for that day. Richard sat back in his chair and let out a low whistle, Matt rubbed his eyes.

"If we find that girl…" he thought carefully when choosing his words, "just be cautious."

"Huh?" Matt glanced Richard up and down, the man looked, if possible, even more rugged than he used to.

"According to Jamie everyone's still exactly the same. If that's true history will probably repeat itself." But Matt still didn't comprehend so Richard decided to be blunt. "You meet that girl, you're going to love her and she's going to betray you-"

"You don't know that!" Matt said indignantly and Richard held up his hands to show he meant no harm. "I've got bigger things going on in my life than thinking about girls, like saving the world." He snapped. Richard stared at him in surprise; it was unlike Matt to get so worked up about something. "Sorry." Matt said quietly.

"That's alright." Richard replied.

"It's just that, a day ago it was simple; find Scar, defeat the old ones." Matt sighed, "but now…find scar, find the girl, _beware _of the girl," he added and glanced at Richard, "find the old ones, defeat them, save the world." He held his head in his hands. "But when has my life ever been simple?" He said to himself and stood up. "I've just got to...focus." He said and turned to Richard who stood up.

"_We _have to focus." He walked over and put a hand on Matt's shoulder, "we're in this together mate." He said and Matt smiled. Their smiles faded as they heard the screaming.

* * *

"Rise and shine." Mia heard and she groaned as sunlight poured into the room and her curtains were drawn. She pulled her duvet over her and groaned again as it was yanked from her hands. "I get a day off, make you breakfast and you can't even be bothered to get up?" John said roughly as he placed a tray on her bedside table. She opened her eyes and sat up groggily. John pushed hair away from her forehead and handed her a glass of orange juice. "I have a present for you." He said slowly, waiting for her to wake up properly.

"Apart from pancakes?" She said happily and reached over for the plate.

"Yep. Oh, hang on," he looked at the tray, "I forgot them. I'll just go get it." He said quickly before leaving the room; he had never quite appreciated that Mia wasn't six anymore. He had never had any children of his own and had always wanted a little girl, so he spoiled her as if she were a child. Mia glanced around her room; it was just large and empty. John, Mia and Anna lived in one of those apartments in London that looked as if no one lived there, with white washed walls, hardly any furniture and no photographs of them anywhere. She'd had another dream last night; in the distance she could see an island, four figures stood, awaiting the arrival of the next. She could see someone in a boat, rowing towards them. She tried to call out, to go with the person to the island. But she couldn't speak, she couldn't move; it's like there was a barrier between her and the other four. She'd tried to call to Matt again but she couldn't. Who was he? She knew they had met before but where, when or why she could not answer. "Here we go." John said and threw some papers in front of her.

"You're sending me to a different boarding school?" She said grabbing the papers and seeing the buildings on them. They weren't schools though. "Hotels?" Mia said quietly.

"I was thinking of buying one." John shrugged as he said it before he smiled at her. "Which one do you want?" He asked and she was shocked.

"You want me to pick?" Mia said in surprise and John nodded.

"So, which one?" He said and Mia began to read through the papers. One caught her eye, she read through its information before making the basic business checks; size, location, cost etc.

"This one!" She said and held up the papers, he took them from her.

"The Royal Chase Hotel?" He said slowly, evaluating her proposition in his usual business-man like way. _(A/N: that's an actual hotel in the location I needed. I am very proud of myself that I did my research…everyone be proud! :D) _"Seems OK." He said and then smiled at her.

"We can get it?" She said excitedly, when he nodded she embraced him. He smiled and stroked her hair; it was good for her to go to the countryside and get away from the buzz of a city. He had only been home for one day and he could already tell she was troubled by something. She had screamed in the night and it took a while to get her to calm down. "Thanks," she said quietly.

"Mia?" He said as they broke apart.

"Yeah?"

"Who's Matt?"

* * *


	4. Vier

"What's going on?" Matt shouted as he and Richard ran into Scott's room. They were shocked to see Pedro trying to wrestle a writhing, convulsing and screaming Scott back into the bed he was going to fall out of. They were so shocked it took them a moment to act. Matt ran to Pedro's side and Richard ran to the opposite side of the bed and together they tried to calm Scott down. But the more they tried to push him back the more he screamed and writhed free of their grip, the fact that Scott was well built and perhaps stronger than any of them just made it more difficult to restrain him. What he was screaming Matt had no idea but after a few minutes the boy began to calm down. Once Scott was completely still again they all stood in silence, breathing heavily after their efforts. Matt had not paid much attention to this one of the Five, Scott had been still, in bed for the past three days. Pedro and Jamie were really the only ones who had spent time with him; communication was fruitless, the boy said nothing back. Jamie had claimed he'd stopped sending thoughts until yesterday; a faint echo in the back of his mind had brought him to his brother's bedside.

"What happened?" Richard looked to Pedro and repeated the question in Spanish. The other boy, still shaking slightly, began to speak quickly and quietly for fear of waking Scott up again. Richard nodded as Pedro talked but Matt stared at Scott. He hardly knew the boy, he hardly knew Jamie. In the three days the boys had been here had hadn't really had a chance to talk to Jamie properly. It seemed that once they were together it was about the future, about the war against the old Ones. Matt hadn't asked about their past, about the childhood he sensed they had tried to forget. "Pedro came in," Richard said and Matt looked over at him, "began to heal and Scott began to mumble, he thought it was working, that Scott was getting better but…" Richard gestured to the unmoving boy on the bed, "the mumbled turned to screams, and the twitches turned to convulsions."

"Will he be OK if we leave him?" Matt turned to Pedro who looked to Richard for a translation. Pedro shook his head violently; still scared that Scott might awaken. "OK," Matt gentle kicked a chair next to Scott's bedside. "I'll stay here with him for a while; you two go help Professor Chambers and Jamie-"

"They're out." Richard said but quietened as he heard a car door slam shut. Even so Richard didn't get why Matt should stay with Scott, surely it should be Pedro. But Richard could see in Matt's eyes that there was a determination so Richard beckoned Pedro who followed him out of the room. Matt glanced at the boy up and down, unsure of what exactly he was doing sitting with him but sure this is where he needed to be.

_Matt. _He jumped. Someone's voice had called out inside his head. He looked down to the sleeping boy and saw that his brow was furrowed as though thinking hard.

_Yes. _He thought back, feeling slightly foolish.

_Where's Jamie?_

_Coming. _Matt thought for a moment about what to say.

_It doesn't really work like that. _Scott's voice came again, _I can understand what you're thinking and the answer is "fine." _

_Do you know what's happening? _Matt said and suddenly, as though this communication was the key, he felt closeness to the boy, now that he could talk to the fourth.

_Yes. The Five. The Old Ones. The Other Girl. I've got it all from Pedro. _

_What happened just then? When you were-_

_Memories. Of that God awful place. Silent Creek. _Matt shook his head; this boy had been through a lot. _Don't worry about it; it's all in the past now. _

_You need to wake up. You need to get better. _

_I know. But I want to talk to Jamie first. _

_I'll get him._

_Thanks. _Matt walked to the door and turned back as he heard something shuffle behind him. For the first time since they had met Scott was sat up in his bed. "Thanks." He said and Matt was surprised, his voice was harder than Jamie's, he was entirely different to the other boy. More sure of himself, stronger, calmer. He looked at Matt, although they had met before he hadn't properly looked at him. Dark hair cut short. Harsh, blue eyes. Broad shoulders. A strange, welcoming hostility about him. Matt nodded at him and walked out.

* * *

"Who?" Mia said innocently but John could hear in her voice that she had something to hide.

"Matt." He repeated, watching her for any sing of recognition. She merely shrugged and shook her head. He put a hand on hers but she stood up quickly from her bed, jumped down and went to her bathroom. "You're very bad at dodging questions Mia," he said loudly so she could hear him.

"I have no idea who _Matt _is." She said as she walked back into the room.

"Last night," John took a breath, "you had a nightmare." She stopped when opening her cupboard to listen to him. "You screamed for while; kept me and Anna up. When we came to see you the screaming had stopped and you were just mumbling…about a boy called Matt." He stood up from her bed, put her plate back on the tray and picked it up.

"I told you, I don't know who Matt is!" She said desperately, opened her cupboard sharply, removed a white dress and went behind a screen in her room to change her clothes. John realised he'd made her angry and walked over to the screen; he leant against it and sighed.

"I'm sorry Mia, I was just curious." He said before he left the room. Mia threw off her night dress and stood in the soft sunlight entering her room; she leant against the screen too and sighed. She slid down the hard wood behind her until she was sat down, she drew her knees up and held her head in her hands.

"I wish I knew who he was." She whispered, "I wish I knew what was happening."

"Oi!" John shouted playfully as he came back into her room. "I have a meeting with an interested company this weekend; do you want to come?" She knew he was only trying to cheer her up but she replied anyway.

"Where're you going?" She asked.

"Hong Kong." He answered.

"You don't have any connections in Hong Kong." She said in confusion and again John was surprised. Mia was one of those people who, when they have read something once, they can recall that information whenever needed. It's how she managed to get away with so much stuff when she was in Ipswich.

"Yes," he said with a slight laugh, "but there's a company there that's gone under-"

"You're not talking about Nightrise are you?" She shouted in surprise.

"How do you know-"

"I read about it." She said quickly, "You can't really be thinking about saving them?"

"Since when did you become such an expert on what I do?" He was joking but Mia knew him well enough to understand that she'd stepped over the line; John hated being told what to do/ being told what he was doing was stupid.

"I'd love to come." She said happily, changing the subject.

"Good, we leave for Heathrow in half an hour-"

"Half an hour?!"

"Anna will help you pack!" He shouted before leaving the room to pack himself. As he ran out, up the stairs to his room, he thought about what Mia had said. It was true that Nightrise had been involved in fraud but that's why he's been called in; he was famous for going into slowly degenerating businesses and bringing them back. He shook his head, Mia was wrong; everything would be fine.

* * *

Oooh…so Scott's finally, pretty much, better. Erm and Mia is headed to Nightrise in hong kong :D but you guys remember who else is headed there right? -- well then go read the last chapter of nightrise!

Thanks for the reviews!


	5. Memories

Matt was sat in Professor Chamber's garden by himself, feeling lost like he used to. He had no idea what was happening in his life; he'd never known before but this was different because, for once in his life, he had a purpose and he had no idea how to achieve the end goal. He was frustrated with the lack of action, frustrated that he couldn't find her and even more frustrated that the other three looked to him for the answers when he had none. And what the heck were the Nexus doing for him recently? They mocked him about the other girl and then agreed with him! How ridiculous was that? He exhaled a low, deep breath and slid down his chair so he could rest his head against the chair's back and look at the sky. What could he possibly do? Sleep, he could, he felt his eyes dropping and that part of his consciousness slipping away.

_-Begin Flashback- _

"Matt? Matt?!" He snapped his eyes open as he heard someone calling to him. He'd been sat on a low wall outside Kevin's house, listening to his iPod, the hood of his sweatshirt drawn over his head to prevent onlookers seeing the headphones. He never wore his hood up as some form of intimidation, he found that ridiculous, he wore it for his own protection; no one could see his gadgets or his face. He pulled his headphones out of his ears and turned to see Kevin stood next to him. "We going or what?" Matt nodded and stood up. It was 11pm on a Tuesday night in Ipswich and neither boy had something to do, so Kevin had invited Matt to hang out with some friends just outside the town centre. "Get in." Kevin had walked up to a car and opened his door, he pointed to the passenger seat.

"You can't drive." Matt said simply, even though he got in anyway. "Whose car is this?" He asked as he put on his seatbelt, Kevin noticed this and smirked.

"Dad's." Kevin started the car, "don't worry; he won't know." The older boy smiled at Matt who wasn't reassured but had gotten too used to that feeling of not being safe to care. They drove off. The car came to a stop not long after and Matt looked at Kevin in confusion; they usually never picked anyone up. "Do you mind sitting in the back?" Kevin spoke to Matt but didn't look at him; he was looking out of the window in front of them. Two girls appeared in the light of the head lamps, Matt saw Kevin's new girlfriend, Amy, and nodded. He got out of the car and was about to get in the back when Amy put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He looked at her wearily, he hated it when she did this; she'd flirt with him openly in front of Kevin to ensure her boyfriend remained completely loyal.

"Hey Matt." She flashed a smile at him and he stared at her face that had far too many layers of make-up than was necessary. He said nothing as her hand moved from his left shoulder to his chest, he almost recoiled but knew she'd gain some satisfaction is she saw he was bashful. "Got a lighter?" She asked and took a cigarette from the inside of her jacket as she took it out she dropped it, "whoops," she muttered and bent down to pick it up. Matt rolled his eyes as she flaunted her curves in front of him but he saw the girl stood behind her. She wasn't looking at Matt but she had the same look of repulsion that Matt had. Even though he only saw her for a few seconds but when he did he noticed something about her that everyone did; like Matt, she just didn't fit in. She was too pretty, too delicate, too clever for these people and it made a strange feeling occur in Matt's stomach as she thought of how she was wasting her life. He'd seen her around school but hadn't paid attention to her, he'd just never assumed she'd be the kind of girl to hang around with people like Amy or Kevin…or him. She was the kind of girl he'd expect to go to Paris for lunch one day when she just happened to feel like it…it was a strange stereotype, he couldn't quite place it. Her clothes for instance, she wore stone coloured skinny jeans, blue converse and a bright red jacket. It looked fine but he expected her to walk around in pretty dresses with matching ribbons. He shook his head; why was he thinking so much? Amy stood up and looked expectantly at Matt who realised he should have given her a lighter, she giggle annoyingly as he reached inside his jeans and removed a lighter. She lit her cigarette and got into the car, as she moved in she winked at him and he did nothing in return. Now that she'd moved she saw her friend better, the girl had brown hair and bright, hazel eyes, she walked passed Matt with a small smile, opened the door to the car and got in. Matt followed her. Kevin had begun to drive before Matt had even shut the door. "Hey," Amy said to Kevin and kissed his neck, Matt saw the girl sat next to him look away, out of the window. It was strange that she hadn't spoken and introduced himself, but then he hadn't either. "Matt," Amy turned in her seat and addressed the two at the back, "this is my friend Mia, Mia this is Kevin's friend Matt." They looked at each other and nodded. "Good, now everyone knows each other, so play nice, make love, whatever." Amy turned back around to fix her make-up.

"Where're we going Kevin?" Matt sat forwards and asked, Kevin glanced back at him.

"To see Steve," Kevin said as though everyone knew Steve. Of course they did; he was the only guy with a decent supply of drugs.

"Oh, Mia's got something." Amy said and turned to her friend who seemed to draw her attention back into the car and looked at Amy. Mia put her hand inside her bright red jacket and removed two long, brown sticks; she moved forwards and held them out for everyone to see. Amy sighed.

"Weed's all I got." Mia said and sat back down; Matt was surprised by two things. Firstly, she spoke far too posh to be from Ipswich even though her choice of vocabulary fitted in well and secondly, she did not seem like the kind of girl that smoked weed. She noticed the look on Matt's face and smiled slightly; she extended a hand and held out the small stick for Matt to take. He glanced at it for a moment, wondering if he should or if he shouldn't. He decided to do it, seeing as everyone in the car was looking at him expectantly. He was not the type to give in to peer pressure, he never gave a damn about what anyone said or thought about him, but he did it anyway. He was about to light his own when Mia put hers in front of him. He lit it first and watched as she sat back and inhaled. She rolled down her window as the dark, overly pungent smoke swirled out of the car. Matt lit his own and copied Mia. The car stopped, Amy got out.

"You're not going in by yourself," Kevin said and got out of the car too. Matt and Mia sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Have you ever just," Mia said and paused, Matt thought she was either wondering what to say or was stoned so she'd forgotten, but she hadn't smoked enough to be completely out of it. "Have you ever just," she turned to him now as though this was the most important thing she had to say, "stopped…and wondered what the fuck you're doing here?" her eyes looked at Matt's so intently he found himself engulfed by her. "Wondered what the hell you're doing with your life?" She laughed as she said it and shook her head. "Why," she held up her cigarette to his face, "why the heck are we doing this?" She threw it out of the window. "We're not worth it." She sighed, "You and me." Matt said nothing, a little shocked at her sudden change in character. She turned around and sat against his shoulder. Matt followed suit and sat back but as he moved away from her she fell further into his arms. But neither cared very much. "Matt." She said the one word clearly into the darkness of the vehicle. "Matt Freeman." How did she know his surname? "You're like me." She whispered, "you don't give a damn about where you're going or how you're getting there, because in the end no one gives a damn about you." She was right, that's exactly how he felt.

"You're like me." Matt spoke suddenly and she turned to look at him, "you don't fit in wherever you go." He leant forwards and whispered in her ear, "you find yourself wondering who you are cause the only people who could ever tell you are gone." She lowered her gaze; how did he know that? "Mia Ostin." How did he know her name? "You're like me," he continued to whisper and she found herself smiling. "You're worth more than this." He leant back and was slightly surprised when he found her lips against his a moment later. She moved away suddenly as though she'd done something wrong.

"Wha…?" she said quietly, he licked his lips, nodded and moved forwards to kiss her again. Neither had any idea why they were doing it; they didn't seem the type to meet for the first time and make out after twenty minutes of knowing each other. But there was something so certain about being in the other's arms that made them, for the first time in a long time, feel safe. Feel as though there was someone in the world who actually gave a damn. After a few minutes there was a bang as someone knocked hard against the car window, they broke apart and looked up. Kevin was shouting something at them, they had no idea what he was saying but got out of the car.

"What's going on?" Matt asked a slightly hysterical Kevin. The older boy's eyes looked at them both with fear.

"Someone rang the police," Mia sighed as though bored, "we have to get out of here; if someone catches us near Steve's, we're dead." The older boy shouted and before they knew it Mia and Matt were running, away from the car, away from Kevin, away from whatever was happening there. And it felt surprisingly good; for once Matt felt some level of control in his life. They turned a corner into a small, dingy alleyway and waited, the only sound was their deep breaths. Matt took Mia's hand in a reassuring way.

"I want to go back." Mia said after a moment. Matt shook his head in disbelief, went in front of her and pinned her shoulders against the wall. "Hey that hurts, let me go-"

"Are you completely out of it?" He said urgently to her.

"What- no, I just-"

"Well then you're insane." He whispered to her.

"Am I so insane?" She laughed, "Even you said it Matt, I'm not worth this; if I go it's my only way to get out of here. My only way to get out of this life-"

"Mia!" She pushed him away and he hit the wall on the other side of the alley, they stared at each other for a moment. "It's suicide," he said quietly.

"It's a way out."

"I won't let you." He grabbed her hand and twisted it around her back painfully.

"Are you insane?" She gasped and this time he laughed.

"Oh, I'm insane?" He turned her to him and almost dropped her arm as he saw the sadness on her face.

"Anything's better than the life I have here." She looked at him and smiled, "well you were a pretty good anomaly." They laughed, "let me go Matt."

"No. We have to stay together."

"Let me go Matt." She repeated; why was it so difficult for her to understand the fact that he had this gut instinct that if they stayed together everything will be alright?

"Stay with me Mia," but her arm was already slipping out of his grip. "I can help you." He said it in desperation; both of them knew there was nothing he could do for her.

"Let go!" She shouted and lashed out, she was surprisingly strong and he felt his head hit the alley wall, his vision blurred; his consciousness was slipping away from him. Speechless, with blurred eyes, he watched her walk away into the darkness of the street. Silently cursing himself; he'd let her go. He tried to get up but immediately felt dizzy, and then came the overwhelming desire to lie down and sleep. He slid down the wall and tried to shout out for her. He fell; he was unconscious before his head hit the floor.

_-End flashback-_

Matt opened his eyes slowly, staring at the sky, wondering if what had just happened was a real recollection of events. He put his hand to his lips and his fingertips brushed them. It had been real; he'd met a girl called Mia, he'd let her go. He knew her. He knew where she was from now; he had picked her up from the depths of his memory. He sat up slowly; Richard came and sat net to him. The man opened a newspaper but before he'd read it Matt had pulled it away from his face.

"Matt?" Richard asked expectantly, the boy looked incredibly pale, he was shaking slightly.

"Mia." He said.

"No, your name's Matt." Richard said, "unless there's something else you want to tell me." He laughed slightly but was immediately silent when Matt shook his head.

"The girl, her name's Mia. I met her in Ipswich-"

"How?" Richard asked and Matt almost blushed.

"She was friends with someone I knew; I only just remembered because she hit me, I lost the memories of that night." He said quickly.

"How did you know it was her?" Richard asked.

"Because when I was with her it felt just like it did when I met Pedro or Jamie or Scott. It just felt right, we both felt safe." Matt didn't know how to explain but it turned out he didn't have to.

"Ok," was all Richard said before putting down his paper and going into the house to talk to Professor Chambers.

"Matt?" He turned to find Scott, Jamie and Pedro stood in front of him. He could tell what they wanted; confirmation that it was true, that he had found her. He nodded. Jamie smiled, Pedro and Scott nodded. "What now?" Scott said.

"We find her, follow her to wherever she's going-"

"That could be anywhere." Jamie said as Matt stood up.

"I'll find her. I have to find her."


	6. The Edge of the World

"Miss Adams, if you could just turn that off until the plane is in the air please." An air hostess with way too much make-up talked down to Scarlet and she scowled as she turned her mobile phone off and put it in her pocket. She slid down her chair slightly; looking around at the other passengers entering the business class cabin. They were all men, late forties, early fifties…they had their phones out, their laptops on, she rolled her eyes. She hated being treated differently just because she was a kid, but she was used to it now. Her attention was drawn to a girl who had just entered the cabin; she was Scarlet's age which was odd because she had never seen someone her age in the business class area of anything really. The girl had brown hair and, Scarlet couldn't quiet make out the exact colour, dark eyes. It took her a moment to realise she knew her.

"Mia?" She said and stood up, the girl, who had just handed a bag to the man she was sat next to, turned around. She had the same moment of trying to place the face and then she remembered.

"Scarlet?" The girls moved forwards and embraced. "What're you doing here?" Mia asked as the girls glanced each other up and down.

"I'm going to visit dad," she rolled her eyes and Mia noted the bored, annoyed tone that Scarlet used.

"Oh?" Was all Mia had to say to get the other girl to elaborate.

"Yeah he phoned school and told me to get out there." Scarlet sat down and indicated for Mia to sit in the chair next to her; she obliged. Scarlet's angled eyes softened slightly as she remembered Mia's character; the girl always seemed so quite and sure of herself, she always used to hang out on the edge of chaos, unlike all the other girls Scarlet knew. "What're you going for?" She asked after an awkward moment of silence; Mia and Scarlet had never been the best of friends and had often experienced these silences. Mia nodded towards the man she was sitting with before.

"John's going out for business," Mia said and sighed slightly. "I'm going with him, mainly for shopping purposes and mainly to keep an eye on him." Scarlet let out an airy laugh and glanced at Mia's guardian. Everyone at school knew Mia came from a messed up background and had been fostered by a rich business man. Mia had been bullied about it at first but girls like Scarlet had stood up for her. Scarlet inwardly laughed at how they had all found out that Mia really didn't give a damn. "I was wondering where you were on the last day of term," Mia said and looked at Scarlet who shrugged.

"Yeah, dad's a bit spontaneous with no regards as to what I'm doing." Scarlet said and quietened as they heard the pilot speak about the flight. "Sit with me won't you?" Scarlet said quickly to Mia, "unless John gets lonely." Scarlet smirked and Mia laughed.

"So long as he has his phone he'll never be lonely; I'll just go get my bag." So Mia did just that and came to sit back next to Scarlet. Both grateful for knowing one another. Both thanking the great coincidence that they should end up on the same flight. Both innocent to the knowledge of how their worlds were about to collide.

* * *

"Mia has tried to talk to me," Scott said ominously over lunch. Everyone had been sat outside, eating a salad Professor Chambers had made for them. The sun had been shining on their silent moon but now a cloud passed over it and plunged them into twilight darkness. Everyone looked up to him and he put his fork down on the table in front of him, Jamie felt his heart sink every time he saw his brother move; Scott was the strong one of the two and watching his pain as he did the simplest of things was overwhelming.

"What's she been saying?" Richard asked and helped Scott sit forwards in his chair.

"I said she's been _trying, _she hasn't actually said anything." Scott muttered, "she keeps showing me an image because it takes less effort," he shrugged; it was difficult to explain how the mind worked to them.

"What does it look like?" Jamie asked as Professor Chambers placed a jug of lemonade on the table and sat next to Pedro and began immediate translation. Scott's face screwed up in concentration as he tried to remember.

"It's a high rise building," he closed his eyes, trying to remember, "colours of…brown and green. But," he shook his head, "it looks incomplete, even though it is. It has a chunk missing so it looks like an arch I guess. So much glass-"

"Glass?" Jamie said slowly, wondering why that could be important.

"She kept highlighting that point; wanting to show me how fragile it was," again he shrugged. "She could never quite get to me what it looked like; it was always blurred. But I know other random information, like the end of it's construction was 2005, it's height is 758 ft which allows 65 floors," he shook his head and opened his eyes, "pointless facts!" He said irritably. "Does anyone know where that is?" He looked around and everyone shook their heads.

"We could Google it." Professor Chambers said and opened her laptop case on the table. There was a few minutes of clicking in which all the boys became impatient and felt the task was hopeless. "I'll just search what you gave me, _arch, construction ended 2005, 758 ft, 65 floors._" She read something on the screen, " had identified it as The Arch, in Hong Kong." _(A/N: it took me like ten minutes to get this all to work so you better be thankful!) _She looked up at them all and then they all looked to Matt who seemed like he wasn't paying attention.

"So, what does Mia want us to do?" He spoke for the first time during the meal and looked over to Scott who winced as he sat up straighter to look at Matt.

"She wants us to go there." He said quietly and everyone waited for a few moments to let this aspect of their plans sink in. What surprised Scott is that no one questioned him, no one though he was crazy or asked him how he knew this.

"Then we will." Richard said suddenly and Matt looked at him. They stared at each other for a while, trying to figure out what the other was thinking until Matt looked away.

"Phone Miss Ashwood-"

"She said she was sending someone from the Nexus to help-"

"Tell her to send them to The Arch in Hong Kong, because that's where we're going to be." Matt said and everyone recognised the authority in his voice. "I can't explain why but I think…I _know, _that's where we have to be. Like when we came here," Matt said to Richard but looked up at the sky, "we didn't know what we were going to do but that's not the point. We just knew we had to be here and then the invisible force called fate makes the rest play out." Matt said and saw that for once, he had the support of many people because Jamie, Scott and Pedro nodded at him.

"Alright, finally." Richard ran a hand through his messy blonde hair and stood up, "we're doing something." He smiled as Matt laughed slightly at how excited the man had become. "You OK to travel?" Matt asked Scott who nodded.

"To get this damned thing over with I'd travel to the edge of the world and back," Scott said and everyone smiled; silently agreeing the same thing.

* * *

Scarlet couldn't remember the last time she had laughed as much with a friend. She was close to her ones at school but there was something that made her feel comfortable with Mia, something that made her feel she was just with another part of herself that she'd forgotten about. It was difficult to explain how she had gone from hardly knowing Mia to knowing absolutely everything about her.

"That's crazy." Scarlet said, shaking her head as she and Mia walked through the airport in Hong Kong; John was behind them, talking fast into his mobile.

"Crazy but true," Mia said, "I didn't realise the diamond was in there." She shook her head as Scarlet howled with laughter.

"So you ate it?" Her angled eyes became watery with tears as Mia began to laugh as well and nodded her head.

"Well if you two are done chatting," John said to them as he placed his mobile back inside his jacket, "I'm afraid Mia and I have to go this way. Is your dad sending a driver?" He asked Scarlet who nodded.

"Yeah, I'm going this way," she indicated by nodding to a door, "Mia give me your number and I'll ring you if you're free." She said and both girls exchanged numbers before embracing. "Bye!" Scarlet called back to both of them as they waved her off, "call me and I'll show you round some time!" Mia nodded to her friend and smiled.

"She's nice," John said casually as he and Mia began to walk in their direction and Mia nodded at his comment. "Perhaps you can go shopping some time."

"Perhaps." She smiled up at him. "Where're we going to first, the hotel?" John shook his head and undid another button of his shirt, Mia could tell from the way John was avoiding her eye that he was hiding something, he was hiding something bad. "What? What is it?" She said quickly and he sighed.

"Mia, please don't get angry." He said quietly but Mia wasn't angry, there was a rising sense of panic inside of her from his unresponsive tone.

"About what?" She almost shouted, her breathing began fast and she had begun to feel sick.

"I'm taking you to the hospital." John said and held onto her arm as though she was going to escape.

"What?" She noticed his grip on her arm tightened.

"I'm worried about you," he glanced over his shoulder and hitched his bag up onto his shoulder as it had begun to slip off. "For a week now you've had bad dreams-"

"They're just bad dreams-"

"Bad dreams _don't _make you scream like that. _Nothing _should make anyone scream like that." He walked faster, dragging Mia with him, "and you've been different, quieter, not as happy. I'm worried," he repeated but Mia was the one getting worried now.

"What kind of doctor am I going to see?" John slowed slightly; he thought it would have been a struggle to get her there but he could tell from her question that she was calm and willing to go.

"A psychiatrist," she gasped.

"You think I'm crazy?" She asked and he shook his head.

"I think we just need to make you better." He said quickly and checked his watch.

"I'm not crazy!" She almost shouted.

"Keep your voice down!" John said to her and she could see in his eyes he was genuinely worried for her. "I don't know what to do," he stopped completely and turned to her. Mia realised that they were already outside, it was raining and John had to shout against the sound of the rain. "I don't want to lose you to anything," he stroked her face and she was glad he couldn't tell what was rain and what was tears on her face. She shook her head.

"I'm not crazy." She said again.

"Please Mia, for me." John's eyes too began to sting.

"Is that why you brought me here?" She asked and he shook his head.

"No I really am going to see Nightrise and we will take the rest of the week as a holiday," he let out a shuddering sigh, "I made a phone call on the plane when you were with Scarlet." He embraced his foster child and held her tight. "The doctor said he wanted to take us to lunch so he could talk to you, is that OK?" He went to push Mia away so he could look at her but Mia wouldn't move away from him. She nodded and buried her face in his shirt. A car pulled up next to them and Mia moved away from John. The pair stood in the rain, not caring that they were completely drenched now, Mia's white dress was almost see through but she didn't care much, she couldn't fight what was happening. The car door opened, a man with olive skin and dark hair appraised them both.

"Mr Rosetti?" He asked John who moved forwards and shook his hand, Mia noticed the man had an accent but she couldn't quite place it. "Hello Mia," the man talked to her like she was a child as John moved away, "my name is Doctor Fabian."


	7. Chinese Moonlight

"It's gonna be another four hours, get some sleep." Richard said to Matt as the boy tried to read a book but was failing dismally. It was such a boring, useless account of life that he found himself reading the same sentence over and over until the words made no more sense. He decided to listen to Richard and rested his head back as he prepared to sleep. "Maybe you'll see her again if you sleep, maybe she'll come to you again…" Richard continued to talk but his sound soon became fused with the sound of Jamie and Scott talking, Pedro's silent prayers as he thought of the height they were flying at and the mellow din of the planes engines. Matt drifted on the edge of his dream world. And he saw her. Standing right in front of him. In her skinny jeans and bright red jacket like she was that day. Her head tilted to one side with a playful smirk on her face and for once Matt didn't want to talk about where she was. He didn't want to explain to her about the Old Ones. He just wanted to be here, to exist in her presence because that's where he was meant to be.

"Matt!" She called out and he looked to her for his mind had wandered. She held out a hand for him to take and he took it, a feeling of exhilaration ran through him as his skin touched hers. "Finally." She said with a small laugh and he looked from their hands to her face; she was crying, tears rolled down her cheeks as the realisation hit her that they were finally together again.

"Finally," he repeated and embraced her. They stood for what could have been eternity or a few moments, neither of them could tell. "Are you…" Matt didn't know how to describe it, "are you really here or is this just my imagination?" She didn't answer for a few minutes.

"Am I really here?" She buried her face in his shirt and inhaled deeply as though breathing in his very essence. "You mean; am I asleep somewhere and dreaming this too?" He nodded and she felt his movement. "Well then yes, I am." She whispered.

"Where are you?" Matt asked her.

"In Hong Kong, waiting for you all; are you-"

"Yes we're on our way." He said but something was wrong he could tell now; there was an uneasy air unlike most of his dreams in this place. What place that was he didn't know, he hadn't really looked but now he took an opportunity to glance around; they were standing in water, he hadn't even realised that it was up to Mia's hips. But still; when had it ever been this easy? "Mia can you feel that?" He asked and she drew away from him, she nodded, "like someone's watching?" He asked and she nodded again. "Aren't you worried?" He said and she shook her head.

"He said he'd make things better." She said quietly and looked past Matt. "He said he's make the nightmares to stop." Matt followed her eye line and turned around, "he said we'd be together again." As Matt turned he saw a figure in the water, black in colour, almost six feet tall and stood with an eerie silence.

"Mia, what the hell is that?" Matt asked and took a step back.

"It's my psychiatrist." She answered.

"Why is he in this world?"

"He said that if I brought him here he'd observe things and get rid of the bad dreams. Matt did you know that he's the only person I've ever met who understands this-"

"Why does he look like that?" Matt tried t turn to her but there was a fear in him that wouldn't let him move, "why doesn't he have a face?" Matt said quietly. Mia shrugged.

"He doesn't belong here, not really." She said happily.

"What's his name?"

"Fabian." Matt turned around in an instant to look at her.

"What?"

"Fabian, his name is Fabian." She said and shook her head with a smile as though Matt had asked the strangest question. He gripped her arms and his hands dug into her flesh so hard it hurt. "Ouch, stop it-"

"Mia, get out of there, wake up!" He shouted and began to shake her.

"Stop it Matt, he's going to make me better!"

"No he's not! He works for the Old Ones! WAKE UP!"

"Matt!" She tried to point behind him and he turned. The figure had walked forwards. It's arms spread. A dark slit of a mouth opened and let out a deafening scream. Matt held on to Mia's hand. The darkness engulfed him.

* * *

Mia woke up. She was breathing heavily and drenched in a cold sweat that meant her bed sheets stuck to her skin as parts of her nightdress were soaked; but that wasn't sweat that was actual water. From her waist down she was wet, her bed sheets too were drenched with cold water. She felt around and realised she was safe, in her room in the apartment that she and John were living in. The apartment was in a building called The Arch and had been there for only the evening so far. Mia had eaten lunch with Dr Fabian and in confidence told him of her dreams. He did what he said he'd do; take her to Matt, let her see him again. And now she knew it was all true; all these stories built up in her head they were true. The Old Ones, the Five, the Guardian. It was all true. But Matt had said Fabian worked for the Old Ones and she believed him, if Matt told her John was too she would believe him. She sat up and threw her legs over the side of the bed, they swayed slightly with the breeze coming from her opened window. She had to get out of there. She had to tell John the truth and get him to take her somewhere and get rid of Fabian. She heard a vibration and looked around, her phone was lighting up with a new message. She reached across for it and flipped it open to read the text.

_Hey how's your first night? Scarlet_

She smiled to herself and debated ringing her friend, she decided to do it. She put the phone to her ears and heard it ringing.

"Hello?" Said a soft voice on the other end.

"Hey Scarlet," Mia said in a whisper.

"Woah, you sound like you just woke up-"

"I did."

"It's like, only half ten!" Mia smiled as she heard Scarlet sigh. "Alright, alright." That's what Scarlet said to anyone when she didn't want to be interrupted when formulating a plan but Mia did not know that.

"Did you go to see your dad?" Mia asked quickly and she heard Scarlet sigh again.

"Nope, he was too busy with work to see me, so I just went back to our house and am hanging here. Got bored so thought I'd phone you and see if you wanna go out somewhere?" She left the question in the air and after a moment added; "if it's OK with John obviously." Mia thought for a moment and glanced at her bedroom door that connected her room with John's.

"Yeah, he says it's fine." Mia said quietly.

"Cool, you're staying at the Arch right?"

"Yeah," she heard Scarlet whistle in admiration, "nice. I'll be at the bottom of it in half an hour OK?"

"Cool." Scarlet hung up and Mia put her phone back on the bedside table. She glanced at the mirror opposite her and took in the girl she saw. She put her arms around herself and tried to remember his embrace; he was so perfect to her, such a dream, something wonderful that she could not have. She sighed and stood up to get dressed. Before she'd even took a step to her cupboard her bedroom door opened. Fabian stood in the doorway.

* * *

"What's the rush?" Jamie said as Matt threw his bag into the car. They all piled in after him and he turned to Jamie who was unnerved by the boys dark, intent blue eyes as they shined through the darkness.

"Mia's in trouble, Fabian is with her." Matt said quickly and putt on his seatbelt, ready and waiting for the others to get into place.

"Fabian?" Scott said, trying to remember where he'd heard them talk about it; his memory had been failing him recently. "That guy you saw die?" he said and Matt nodded quickly; impatient that they weren't already moving. "How do you-"

"You don't believe me?" Matt snapped at him; how long had Scott known he was one of the five and yet chose not to believe Matt, the first. Scott shrugged.

"Of course I do." He said indifferently and Richard pushed him into the car.

"Well if Matt says we have to hurry to her then we have to hurry to her." The man said and closed the door behind Pedro who jumped in last. Richard turned to the driver. "The Arch please!" He said with a slight smile, the man nodded and they drove off. Matt just hoped it wasn't too late.

* * *

"Hullo Mia," Fabian said and walked forwards into her bedroom. She took a step back, remembering the dark figure stood in the water with her and Matt. "What's wrong?" But Mia could say nothing, she was gripped by fear and her voice was caught in her throat. "I got rid of the bad dreams didn't I? Got you to see Matt?" He smiled at her and she walked slowly backwards.

"John." She gasped quietly.

"He can't hear you if you mumble." Fabian said consolingly and continued to walk forwards.

"John," she backed into his bedroom door.

"Still too quiet." Fabian said and held out his hands to her, not in a welcoming way but he curled his hand into fists, as he did this a strange red aura came about him, his eyes rolled back into his skull and his mouth opened. Some harsh, bitter sounding language issued forth and echoed in the room, deafening Mia, she screamed and put her hands to her ears. Watching in fear as the man's aura grew. A heated wind blew around her and sparks snapped at her frame.

"JOHN!" She finally found her voice, turned and began to bang on his bedroom door. The room was becoming hotter, like it was engulfed by flames. John wasn't answering. "JOHN!" How could he not hear this? It was as if there were a thousand people in her room, all repeating what Fabian said, it was as though everything in the room caught the fire and began to incinerate around her. She tried to open John's door but it wasn't working; her hands couldn't grip, she was beginning to feel weak. As though the energy was being sucked out of her. Mia fell to her knees.

* * *

"What the hell is that?" Richard whispered as they approached the high rise building. Everyone looked out of the car window, up to the second highest floor. From this distance all they could see was the red glow that came from one of the rooms, but it was so bright they were surprised no one had noticed it. The car suddenly stopped and they looked at the driver; he looked up at the building with a fearful expression and began muttering in Chinese, shaking his head. "Come on," Richard said, grabbed his bag and got out of the car. In a second the other boys followed, they ran after him into the darkness and reached the bottom of the Arch in no time. They stood there, panting for a few moments.

"Someone stay outside." Matt said and when no one volunteered themselves he took the initiative. "Scott stay here; you're not ready to fight and you've never done it." The boy nodded as though only just realising Matt's authority. Everyone nodded and, with one quick, supportive glance at Scott, ran into the building.

* * *

After ten minutes Scott grew restless; there was no sound from anyone coming back and he wasn't even sure if they'd got there in the first place. He looked around impatiently, still trying to block out other peoples thoughts from his mind; since it took longer for his mind to heal he still had difficulty controlling what he was hearing. It took him a moment to realise that someone was walking up to the building. She was wearing all black; she'd get herself run over if she wasn't careful. There was something strange, something familiar about her that he couldn't place.

"Are you the night guard?" She said, she had a British accent and her looks were Anglo Chinese. For a moment Scott was caught off guard, she was quite pretty and he was beginning to realise how he knew her. He shook his head, "can you talk?" She laughed as he nodded again, "are you going to tell me your name?" He smiled.

"Scott." He said and was surprised to see her blush under his stare.

"I'm Scarlet," a sudden thought came to her, "you don't know Mia do you?" She asked and as she looked at him a vague sense of familiarity came to her. Where did she know him from?

"Sort of." He answered and she laughed. Both were distracted as a car pulled up next to them.

"Dad?" Scarlet said and took a step forwards. The man that looked out at them both did look like his daughter, he looked at Scott and smiled.

"Well, well, well." He smiled, "I come to find one and I get two." He laughed and some others inside the car, whom the teenagers could not see, laughed too. "Get in Scarlet. We're going home." The girl nodded; she knew better than to disobey her father.

"See you Scott," she said; still trying to work out how she knew him. She got into the car but as she did her father got out. He stared at Scott for a moment who winced as someone nearby screamed in their mind and he heard it, it gave the man a split second opportunity. For the next time Scott looked at him, he was holding a gun. Scarlet's father cocked the gun, "get in." He said to Scott who knew his power couldn't help him now.

"It was on the 64th floor right?" Matt asked as they looked around. They'd taken the elevator up and now could see no signs of red light, or commotion anywhere.

"Maybe it's stopped?" Jamie suggested.

"You've felt the Old One's power before," Matt said to him, "you know it was them; they wouldn't leave. Knowing that we're coming anyway," Matt said and began to walk forwards. He walked up to the apartment door and, before he'd even touched it, the door swung open. Everyone walked as silently as they could into the living room. Matt was going to tell them to split up when he saw what he was looking for. Outside on the balcony, Mia was stood with her back to them, her long brown hair swaying in the breeze, her body illuminated by the Chinese moonlight. "That's her." Matt whispered slightly disbelievingly. He had not spoken loudly at all but as soon as he spoke Mia turned to them sharply. There was no greeting, no smile, she just stared at him blankly. Her eyes were unfocused and red like she'd been crying. She looked back at the night 's sky. Matt cried out and moved forwards as he realised what she was going to do. Mia threw herself over the railing.

* * *

Oh dear, not too nice way to end a chapter! This chapter was a bit scary in comparison to the others too wasn't it?

Reviews appreciated!


	8. I Don't Love You

Next chappie!

* * *

Matt called out and ran towards the balcony, over the sofa and through the open glass doors. When Mia had jumped he'd caught sight of her face; a small, sad smile played across her face as though she didn't really want to leave. Matt reached the balcony in an instant. He didn't want to look over but then he realised something; he could smell burning. A distant smell that he would never have noticed if he hadn't stopped. And as he shut his eyes because he didn't want to see his other senses became more alert and he could feel something, something pulling him over the balcony too. Something stretching from him, a force of some kind. He'd felt it before, when fighting the Old Ones and the energy left him in the desert. It was the same feeling. He finally found the courage to open his eyes and look down. Mia was on the ground but she didn't look hurt. He gasped in relief as it looked like the girl was just asleep on the hard concrete floor. Richard, Jamie and Pedro arrived at his side a moment later.

"What happened?" Jamie asked.

"I saved her." Matt said quietly and as he moved his hand in a way that indicated something to rise, Mia's body did just that.

"Matt." Richard whispered, a hint of pride entering his voice.

"I know," Matt said slightly disbelievingly, "I've never been able to control it before but this time," he shook his head as he couldn't understand it, "it came so naturally I didn't even realise I was doing it." They watched as Mia's body floated slightly above the ground, her dark waves of hair skimming the floor beneath her. "Pedro," Matt said quietly and the boy stood forwards, "go and see to her, I don't know if I'll lose control again." He heard Richard translate for him but as he looked down to Mia he sensed again that something was wrong.

"What…" He heard Jamie say as Pedro and Richard ran past them both, Matt turned to see what Jamie was looking at. A door at the other end of the room was shaking; a red light seeped out of the edges of the door like a poisonous gas. Matt and Jamie took stance, waiting for whatever it was to come out of the door. There was a low rumbling issuing from behind it that made both boys shake in anticipation. Matt raised his hands and waited for the burning smell, hoping to God it would come again because he couldn't smell it now.

"Take a step back Jamie," Matt said and the boy did as he was told. The rumbling grew louder, the light grew more intense and the door was shaking so much it almost fell to pieces.

"Matt, Jamie, get out of here!" They turned at the sound of their names to see Mia stood in her nightdress screaming at them to move. They stared at each other for a moment before a floor to ceiling window next to Mia smashed. She screamed and guarded her head and face with her hands. The next one smashed after a moment, the lights above Mia flickered on and off. The next one smashed, one after the other the windows that lined the wall smashed. The lights continued to flicker until they were plunged into semi darkness.

"Mia?" Jamie said quietly; watching what he thought was the outline of her body. She took a shaky step forwards.

"Jamie?" She whispered back and was about to take another step forwards when the door behind Matt and Jamie was ripped from its hinges and flew across the room. Jamie acted too slow and the corner of the door collided with his head. He didn't even have time to scream before he was unconscious on the floor. "JAMIE!" Mia screamed but before she could step forwards again she pointed a hand to the place behind Matt. He turned to see the outline of a hand, huge and almost transparent, sneak out through the door.

"What the?" Matt said but the roaring sound the creature was making was too loud for Mia to hear him say anything. They both looked up for they heard what they hoped was untrue. The roof of the building was coming away, the ceiling was crumbling and being blown away by a fierce wind that issued from the door. Matt threw himself behind the sofa and huddled there, Mia did the same on the other side of the room. Both tried to avoid the glass and bits of debris that flew around the room and then away from the building. Matt saw Mia crawl forwards at a painfully slow pace for the wind was against her. She reached Jamie's limp body and pulled him behind the sofa too. Looking up both could see the night sky now, the stars and moon looked down on them along with something else. It wasn't the King, Matt knew that much but it was just as huge and ominous as Matt remembered they could be.

The outline of a human figure that was just taller than the building, it reached out a hand towards Mia but Matt ran across the room and went down on his knees so he skidded to a halt in front of her and Jamie. And in a moment he knew he could do it again. He held out both his hands and silently prayed that he was right. He was. The creature reached out but its hand was stopped as though there were some invisible shield. Matt swore; if he weren't so tired, if he'd slept on the plane perhaps, he'd be able to be more offensive rather than defensive. Matt could see the shield he was creating; a small thin film of translucent silver floated between them and the creature, preventing any of its attacks. But Matt couldn't harm the creature or send it back. It was hopeless. He felt Mia shift behind him and she stood up and walked between Matt and the creature. She held out her hands and produced an even bigger shield, like a dome around the three of them. She'd given Matt a chance to attack. He stood up, by her side and held out his hands once more. He felt it happen again; the energy flow from him, through Mia's shield and engulfed the figure of the creature. The creature's roar turned into a high pitched shriek as it writhed and twisted while engulfed by the invisible power that issued from Matt's fingertips. In one final anguished cry the figure turned to darkness and as it faded away so did it's screams. Silence crept back into the night and all that they could hear was their own deep breathing.

"Mia." Matt said, relieved that he could finally talk to her. She turned to him and shook her head.

"Later." She said and Matt could see small scratched up and down her body from where glass had cut her. Her night dress was stained with dark patches of red and she walked past Matt to where another room was meant to be. The roof that had come away meant there was no need for doors anymore. She walked through the debris to what Matt thought was a bedroom. He watched her walk slowly to the end of the bed and she stopped. Matt stood at her side and saw that there was a man in the bed, he looked like he was sleeping but Matt knew he wasn't; he was pale and his chest wasn't moving. Mia's face screwed up as she tried very hard not to cry. In the end it was too difficult; she turned to Matt who took her in his arms and she cried. For a long while they stood their, listening to her quickened breaths as she shook against him.

"Mia." Matt said again but she shook her head.

"No!" She shouted into his t-shirt, "I want out. I didn't ask for this," she whispered, "I don't want-"

"It's too late for what you want." He said harshly and she moved away from him. Her tear stained face illuminated by the darkness as a cold breeze stirred around them. "You have to accept that; they won't let you out, once they've got you into this there's no escape." She shook her head and he took her by the shoulders, "people will die and you'll watch them die, but that's the way it is for us-"

"I'm not one of you!" She shouted and pushed him away. She turned away and stared at John in hope he'd come back.

"Since we first met it's been marked in your destiny-"

"What because we made out in the back seat of a car?" She said savagely, after a minute she turned to him. "I'm sorry." She said quickly and embraced him. "Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you look strange?" She smiled as she said it and tried hard not to laugh.

"What do you mean?" He said and she laughed.

"Parts of your skin are much darker than other parts." He laughed this time.

"Oh, I had to dye my skin-"

"What?!" She moved away from him and raised an eyebrow.

"We have a lot to tell each other." He said and she nodded. "Come on, Richard, Pedro and Scott are waiting outside. She nodded again and was about to move away when she looked at him in confusion.

"Scott's not down there." She said and moved to the bed once more.

"What?" Matt asked but was quiet as Mia bent down, kissed her foster parent on the forehead and moved away.

"We should get out of here." Mia said and Matt followed her out. They both bent down when they reached Jamie's body and Mia brushed the boy's hair away from his forehead.

"Matt!" They heard someone shout and looked up as Richard and Pedro ran over to them. They stopped at the sight of Mia and Jamie.

"Hi." She said to cover the awkward silence.

"Here," Richard said in the most fatherly voice Matt had ever heard him use, "come stand with me Mia," he said and took her hand. They walked a little way away from the boys who sat on either side of Jamie. Pedro put his hand on Jamie's head and sat like this for a minute or two.

"Ugh," Mia and Richard heard an odd sound issue from Jamie's mouth.

"How're you feeling?" Matt asked the boy and helped him stand up.

"Like I got hit by a door." Jamie said with a small smile as Matt and Pedro helped him stand. He caught sight of Mia and blushed, she smiled as he did this; it's the first time she'd smiled in a while. "Where's Scott?" Jamie asked and everyone looked away. "No," he shook his head at Matt who shrugged, indicating he did not know.

"When we were down there," Mia took a step towards Jamie, "Scott wasn't there." She said and after a hesitant moment, "I'm sorry Jamie."

"No," Jamie repeated and fell back to the floor where he sat and stared ahead of him blankly. "He hadn't healed completely yet." He said quietly and wiped his eyes quickly. "We have to find him." He said and everyone nodded.

"We need to contact the Nexus and tell them what's happened first." Matt said and again everyone nodded even though Pedro didn't understand and Mia had no clue what the Nexus was. "They've still given us hotel rooms right?" Matt asked Richard who nodded.

"Yeah, we need to get out of here as soon as possible and get to the hotel. From there I'll phone Ashwood and update her." Richard said and they all agreed on that plan of action. "Where's Fabian?" Richard asked Mia but she shrugged.

"No idea; last I saw him he was in my room and then," she shook her head, trying to remember, "he just vanished." They helped Jamie stand again and everyone walked out of what was left of John and Mia's apartment.

* * *

Matt sat on his bed in his hotel room, Mia's room was opposite and he had debated going to see her. But then he decided not to because Richard's words kept coming back to him; _you meet that girl, you're going to love her and she's going to betray you. _Matt had insisted he wouldn't fall for her but as he remembered who she was, as she embraced him on that roof he wasn't so sure anymore. He'd never fallen in love, he couldn't quite remember what affection was like because for such a long time he hadn't had it. But now he was sure something was happening and he had no control over it. He swore and was about to remove his clothes to sleep when there was a knock on the door. He crossed the room and opened the door slightly; Mia's hazel eyes appraised him from the other side.

"Hey," she whispered and he opened the door fully to let her in. There was no need to say anything, no need to explain why she was there because they were too close to each other for such formalities. She was still in her nightdress but Matt could see she had washed most of the blood off herself. "Richard called the Nexus?" Matt nodded.

"We're having a meeting tomorrow," he said and took a seat on a chair opposite her.

"How did you…?" she thought of how to say it, "how did you know you were one of the five; that you had this power?" She asked and Matt closed his eyes; he hated reliving this tale.

"My parents died when I was eight." He said bluntly.

"Oh," she nodded as though it were nothing knew but she could tell Matt was not the kind of boy that wanted pity.

"I saw the car crash," he shook his head, "I could've stopped it, but…" his voice trailed away and Mia looked at him with tear filled eyes.

"What about you?" He asked and handed her a glass of water that he poured on the table behind him. She took it and stared down into the cool liquid before she spoke.

"When I was eight," she took a deep breath, "I had a little brother." She bit her lip, "my parents had died before that and err, we were all each other had." She sighed and brushed hair away from her face. "We stayed in an orphanage in London for a while before we were brought up by my mum's cousin or something. When I was eight, Robbie was four," she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "we went to the park and there was this lake. I knew I had a power, I'd practised it before; all I can do is shield things. So when Robbie threw his sandwich into the lake accidentally I prevented it from going in the water by shielding it." She shrugged and then paused for a long while. "But Robbie fell in. I just stared; too scared to move, too frightened to do anything." She looked straight at Matt, "Robbie died. I could've saved him. But I didn't," for the second time that night tears rolled down Mia's face and she brushed them away impatiently, "I'd give anything to bring him back." She said quietly, "_anything." _Matt took her glass from her and sat down next to her on the bed. After a moment she looked up at him, "thanks," she whispered and moved up to kiss him. Their lips brushed but he pushed her away quickly. "What?"

"I can't." was all he said and stood up from the bed.

"Why not?" She stood up too.

"Because," he looked at her, "it's complicated." He rubbed his eyes and when he opened them he found that she was close to him again, "Mia, no." He pushed her away from him and she smirked; all memories of their previous conversation forgotten. "look," he said to her sternly, "I can't fall in love with you-"

"Well according to what Scott's been telling me you fell in love with me thousands of years ago." She moved forwards again and as much as Matt tried to fight it he closed his eyes as she embraced him.

"I don't love you." He whispered even though his hands were already removing her night dress.

"Liar." She whispered back and kissed him.

* * *

Yeah I don't do lemons cause I'm not that cool :P

Anyone else missing Scott? Not that anyone would miss Scar I mean, why would you? :P Death to the pretty Anglo Chinese girl! Anyways, you'll meet them in the next chapter.

Please review!


	9. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Ok guys, school's back on so expect updates on the weekends!

* * *

"Matt!?" Mia and Matt broke away from each other's embrace and turned to the door. "Matt?!" They heard again, a more urgent and strained call compared to the last one. Matt looked at the girl who nodded at him and corrected her night dress. Matt walked slowly towards the door and turned the handle. He opened it a fraction and sighed in relief as he saw Richard's concerned face looking at him. "Where is she?" Richard pushed against the side of the door and let himself in, Matt was slightly shocked but watched with amusement as Richard cast a wild glance around the room before spotting Mia and grabbing her hand.

"What-hey!" Mia shouted as he began to pull her from the room. Matt took a step in front of the door to block Richard's exit.

"Move aside Matt." He said carefully, unsure of just how angry Matt was, for the boy glanced at him with such distaste he almost dropped Mia's hand.

"Richard," he said slowly and sounded as though he'd had enough of the man's actions. "What are you doing?" matt folded his arms in defiance and Richard pointed back at Mia.

"Until the Nexus arrive, you don't know how dangerous she is-"

"Dangerous?" Mia asked and looked past Richard to see Matt. "What do you mean?" She looked from one to the other and shook her head. "Why does everyone talk about me as if I don't know myself?" She asked them and Richard felt slightly ashamed at the way he treated her; she was so frightened and he'd probably made it worse.

"Look, Mia," Richard said and again Matt was surprised at how fatherly he sounded. "I know this is probably difficult for you, not to know who you are, but for now all I can ask of the both of you," he looked to Matt now too, "is that you stay away from each other." Matt and Mia shook their heads. "Matt, you agreed that it was dangerous-"

"_Why _am I dangerous?" Mia asked and Richard dropped her hand.

"The nexus will tell you tomorrow." Matt said but didn't look at her; Matt and Richard glared at each other and, for the first time, disagreed with each other's actions. Richard moved aside so Mia could walk to Matt. As she went to stand with him Richard bit his lip as Matt took her hand, they both looked at him with sorrowful eyes.

"Don't," Richard said in a warning tone. "Don't look at me like that, both of you." He said and saw he was defeated as they looked at each other, how could he possibly break that up? Matt seemed to recognise the stress on the man's face and sighed.

"I'll see you in the morning," he said to Mia and she sighed.

"OK," she let go of his hand and walked through the doorway, once in the hall she turned back to them both, "and someone better tell me what the hell is going on." They nodded and she walked away. Matt and Richard stood in silence for a few moments before the man ran a hand through his blonde hair wearily and Matt looked up at him.

"Say it then." Matt snapped and Richard was surprised by the boy's tone.

"I was just trying to look out for you," Matt rolled his eyes as Richard said this but the man was persistent, "you don't know what Fabian did to her and she says she doesn't remember-"

"And I believe her!" Matt shouted.

"How do you think it happened last time!?" Richard shouted back; he couldn't believe how selfish and naïve Matt was being; he usually acted way beyond his years. Matt could think of nothing to say and walked back to his bed and sat down. He didn't look at Richard as he came and sat opposite of him. "matt, I'm not going to patronise you because I know you hate that, but you must see how important it is that you don't get attached to her-"

"You're too late." Matt whispered and Richard shook his head.

"Trust me," he stood up, "young hearts can fall out of love faster than they fall into it." Matt looked away, Richard didn't understand what he felt; this was different to anything that man had ever felt. "Don't give me that," Richard said, "this isn't me being a father who wants his kid to stay away from some girl, this is about saving the world-" matt stood up suddenly.

"You're not my father." He whispered dangerously and Richard sighed.

"You know I wasn't…Matt that isn't what this is about." He didn't know what to say anymore, Matt seemed hurt and angry by what he had said but he had to get him to understand what was happening. "What's happened to you? Usually you'd understand that you have to put your own feelings aside and not let them ruin your chances of getting to the goal." Matt looked at him and he could finally see he was making contact with the boy's reason.

"I'm sorry." Matt said quietly and shook his head, "you're right, I just…I've never really had anything I wanted, never been properly happy in so long and for once," he gestured through the door Mia had walked, "I was happy." Richard ruffled the boy's hair before embracing him.

"You just have to hang on a bit longer Matt, it'll be fine." He held Matt at arms length and looked him in the eye. "It'll be fine," he repeated and blushed as he seemed to realise something, "and I'm sorry…for interrupting." Matt and Richard laughed.

"Don't worry; we weren't doing anything interesting-"

"Sure you weren't." Richard said and Matt pushed him as he walked away. Richard turned around as he opened the door and looked at Matt again, "see you." Matt nodded at him and as the door shut he fell back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering why it was that fate was so intent on keeping him from what he wanted.

* * *

Scarlet woke up as she felt someone nudging her, she groaned as she felt a sharp pain in the side of her head. When she opened her eyes she saw she was in a room that looked like a board room. Where a bunch of company executives would have a meeting, where her father would have his business meetings. The room was well lit and she was tied to a chair at the head of the table. She looked to her left and saw Scott sat next to her, she smiled sleepily at him.

"Am I dreaming?" She asked and Scott shook his head. "It sure does feel like I'm dreaming." She contemplated for a moment and realised that she suddenly felt quite care free, no longer worried about the fact that she was unable to move. "I'm hungry." She said and shook her head as her eyes began to close.

"Scarlet, pay attention, I'm going to get us out of here-"

"Who're you?" She asked and giggled as Scott grunted in his efforts to loosen the ropes around his hands.

"Scar, I need you to stop making noise," he said but she laughed harder. Scott sighed, when the had got into the car Scarlet's father had injected her with something, she'd screamed an awful lot for a while but another man had clipped her round the head with something and she was unconscious. Scott had watched this in terrified silence, wondering what it was they would possibly do to him. And scared that they would soon do things to him, but they had done nothing; evidently they did not think he was one of the five.

"Scott you're mean." She said with a girlish squeal, "and you called me Scar." She smiled, "I've never been called that before, I quite like it." She carried on mumbling to herself about nothing as Scott tried in vain to realise himself. He stopped and looked up as he heard someone open the door and walk into the room, it was Scar's dad. He walked over to them slowly, taking in the ridiculous accusation from his daughter as she shouted at him.

"I mean, you get me out of school and don't even meet me at the airport?!" She shouted at him and he stopped in front of her. "WHAT THE HELL-?!" but she was silenced as the back of his hand met her face.

"Hey!" Scott shouted but eh was silenced merely by a look from the man. After a moment of glaring at each other, the door opened again and more people walked in. They saw the two teenagers sat at the opposite end in the room and suddenly there was clapping, shouts of congratulation echoed through out the room. "What is this?" Scott asked no one in particular and a woman turned around to him.

"Who's this?" She asked Scar's father who shrugged. "Well we don't need baggage," she said scathingly and Scott got some satisfaction out of seeing the man squirm under scrutiny, "get rid of him-"

"He's seen too much," the man said and the woman shrugged.

"I did say _get rid of him, _didn't I?" he nodded and shouted something in Chinese to people Scott could not see. In an instant he was untied, lifted onto his feet and practically dragged from the room.

"Scott!" Scar shouted and Scott could see her begin to struggle in her chair.

"Scar!" he shouted back and as he tired to go back to her, one of the two men holding him punched him in the stomach. He doubled over and the injuries from before that had not yet healed, let pain rip through him once more and he winced from the pain, trying very hard not to scream. Back in the room Scar whimpered as she was hit again.

"Dad," she said quietly and the man, who had never considered the girl a daughter, merely shrugged and walked away.

"If we may begin the meeting." Scar couldn't see who talked, her eyes weren't focusing, her head felt funny and she just wanted to sleep. "We've been told our next move." He said, at least Scar thought it was a he, she wasn't really paying attention anymore. "We've been told about the location of the last gate." _What gate?_ Scarlet thought but then her mind was slipping away anyway.

"Do we have the key?" Another one shouted and Scarlet was annoyed that he'd interrupted her sleep.

"She's sat right over there." She hoped they weren't looking at her; she was falling asleep and didn't want to be disturbed.

"She's the key to the gate?" There was a murmur of laughter in the room.

"She's the key to the first. So," there was a pause, a shuffling of papers and a groan from Scarlet; why wouldn't they shut up and let her sleep? "You want to know where the last, the third gate is?" Everyone nodded and someone shouted his annoyance at the procrastination, "Stonehenge."

* * *

"Morning Jamie," Mia said and smiled to herself when he tried to respond but couldn't say anything and just blushed. She had walked a little way down the corridor before Jamie caught up with her, they walked in silence until they reached the elevator and Jamie pushed the button.

"How are you?" He asked and she sighed; he was evidently referring to the grief she was feeling about losing John. She shrugged and smiled at him a fake smile that she'd learnt and perfected over the years.

"I'm fine," she said and took a deep breath. There was the sound of a bell as the doors to the elevator slid open, they both stepped inside and Mia pushed the button for the ground floor. "How're you doing?" Mia was going to add "kid," to the end of the sentence but realised they were the same age. There was a strange innocence, vulnerability about Jamie that made her constantly think he was younger than her.

"I'm OK," he lied, "I'll find him." He hoped.

"_We'll _find him." She said and he smiled at her, thankful that she was around. There was something about her that made him feel secure and not so alone when Scott wasn't around. She was meant to be a protector of the five, a guardian, but this was something different, some form of protection he'd never felt before. The bell sounded again and the doors opened and they both stepped out before looking around for the other three they were meant to be meeting. Pedro walked over to them from another lift a few seconds later and they nodded to him, he returned the greeting.

"Where are Matt and Richard?" Jamie asked but his question was answered as they saw Richard a little way off, standing outside the Hotel restaurant.

"Hey," he said slowly as they walked by him into the restaurant and he ticked them off mentally in his mind. It was only four kids he was responsible for but it was probably the biggest responsibility he ever had. And after all, these were pretty special kids. They saw Matt sat at a table and joined him, Mia pointedly taking a seat far away from him so the boys sat on either side of him. She didn't look at him and he didn't look at her. "Alright," Richard said as he walked back to the table; he saw Matt and Mia had not sat next to each other and nodded his approval. "The Nexus are sending a car for us so we've got about half an hour for lunch; Ashwood said not to discuss anything important here." They all nodded and after translation Pedro nodded too. "Mia?" She looked at him blankly, "not hungry?" The girl had not touched the food in front of her, she shook her head. Richard sighed; he'd seen this before, a physical form of grief that lasted a long time. "Will you please eat something?" He asked, it was difficult to talk to her for many reasons; she was a girl, she was a teenager, she was in a situation he could never relate too, and he was pretty sure that after last night she disliked him.

"I'm just not hungry." She shrugged and sat back. "Thanks anyways," he looked at her, wondering why she was grateful. "For caring," she explained, "it's…always nice," she quietened as he looked at her in confusion; clearly she'd never been shown such things like consideration. "Oh, and for the clothes," she smiled at him, wondering how he knew her size. He blushed, suddenly flustered.

"Oh, no problem," he said and she smiled at him before looking out of the window opposite their table. The other three boys on the table looked at each other for a moment. Even though Pedro did not speak their language, even though they could not communicate their feelings, Matt, Jamie and Pedro all understood the look they gave each other; their male dominated environment suddenly had a girl in it. And she was totally different from professor Chambers. The table lapsed into a moment of silence, but surprisingly it was not an awkward one where everyone was thinking of something to say, but a few moments of just being in each other's presence, of thinking about their task ahead. There was a general noise as knives and forks hit plates as they were put down and Mia looked back to the table; the boys had finished and were ready to go. "There's the car," Richard said and Mia stood up first. "This is all of yours, except Matt's, first time to meet the Nexus right?" They all nodded.

"Don't worry about it too much," Matt said as he walked out first and was careful to avoid Mia, "they love you not matter what you do." Jamie, Mia and Pedro stood in a line and exchanged uneasy glances; they did not like the tone of voice Matt had just spoken in.

* * *

Yeah so, let's take a moment to reflect on the chapter- Matt's got issues...I'm not entirely sure where the whole "you'll never be my father!" thing came from but I'm thinking it's an unexplored angle that we'd all like to talk about?

Erm, I just can't write for Scar...i mean i know being a good writer means i shouldn't let my personal views get in the way but when you have absolutely no positive feelings towards a character you can't write about them well. And i don't wanna be a writer anyways!

Also- Stonehenge! Anyone who was surprised by that is not getting any of this cake i baked because it was so obvious...unless you don't know what stonehenge is...in that case...Woooooooooah.

And lastly, for this is awfully long, i should just start a blog about my stories XD, they're going to meet the Nexus! And Ashwood...the legend.

Now's the part where you _**review**_ and also reflect on the above four points, because people who review are cool, people who talk about their fics so much however, are not cool.


	10. Why am I dangerous?

Howdy, it's been a while! I got inspired to write again even though i shouldn't as i'm waaaay too busy XP but whatever!

Enjoy!

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Matt sat back in his seat and looked at Jamie, who was sat to his right, then Pedro who was diagonal from him and finally Mia who was opposite; it was difficult not to smile. Each of them seemed so scared, nervous and not ready to meet the Nexus. When Matt had done so he hadn't really known much about himself, him being one of the five, so he didn't know what to expect or what they expected of him. He hadn't been under much pressure but the other three knew who they were, why they were here, so perhaps they thought the Nexus thought they had total control over their powers…that they were strong-willed and caring. Looking at Jamie now Matt bit his lip to stop himself from smiling; Jamie was constantly glancing out of the window for the Nexus' Head Quarters and when the car stopped he jumped as if fearing they had arrived. Why was Matt smiling? Scott was gone again; Jamie was probably quite upset. Matt averted his eyes from the boy. Pedro sat slumped in his seat as though awaiting some terrifying death there seemed to be an aura of misery around the boy; he fidgeted in his seat and, like Jamie, kept glancing out of the window. That wasn't funny; Pedro looked really scared, but Matt ran a hand through his hair and suppressed a deep sigh to stop his smile from broadening; what on earth was wrong with him?

And Mia, she was curling a long, stray strand of hair around her index finger and for some reason Matt knew that that was what she did when nervous. She'd do it before battle, before she talked to him about something important, before she'd lie to him. And...What was it he used to do…to show her he didn't care? He didn't care that she was lying because he was angry with her anyway or he used to do it to stop her being nervous, to show he was there for her? He smiled as he remembered. How or why he remembered he didn't know. He used to take her hand away and blow the straying hair away from her face so that she couldn't fiddle with it and just talk to him.

Matt looked from Mia, to Pedro to Jamie and back again. Each time he looked at them they seemed to get worse, their nerves seemed to double and he could've sworn Jamie's knees were shaking. The atmosphere in the car was so tense the three jumped at the slightest noise. And, for the first time in a long time, Matt smiled. He shook his head as he did so, wondering what on earth was wrong with him, he chuckled slightly at their expressions and realised after a moment that they were all staring at him.

"Matt…" Jamie said slowly, wondering how to approach the boy, "are you OK?" Matt cleared his throat and nodded.

"I'm fine." He said nonchalantly but saw Pedro looking at him with one eyebrow raised and Matt returned to his usual enigmatic self. "Fine." He repeated. Mia put a hand to his forehead to check his temperature and he felt his skin begin to burn under her touch, but it wasn't because he had a fever. Clearly they thought he was delirious or something; why else would he be smiling?

"What's with the smirk?" Mia asked as she brought her hand away from his forehead, a look of concern creeping onto her face. Matt shrugged.

"Your faces," he muttered and tried not to laugh, "I've never seen people so terrified for no reason." He looked over to Jamie who looked more scared of Matt now than meeting the Nexus.

"We've got plenty of reason to be terrified!" Mia said in disbelief and shook her head. "We're about to find out the reason for our existence, from people who think we're the kids who're gonna save the world! You have-"

"No idea what pressure you're under? No idea what it feels like?" Matt became suddenly serious and sat back, staring determinedly into Mia's eyes. The atmosphere in the car changed suddenly; Matt's smile had brought some ease but as he looked at Mia a darkness entered the car, the temperature seemed to drop as he took a breath to say more. "I have every idea." He spoke the words as though scolding a child. I've been through it. But these people…" Matt shook his head and shrugged, finding it difficult to explain to them, "you mess up and they don't care, you go into battle without even knowing what your power is and they don't care; just so long as you show up and you let people die," he looked at Mia and she knew now that Matt was referring to her younger brother, "but they keep you going." Pedro shivered as Matt talked, it wasn't cold but there was something ominous and harsh about the way the boy spoke. "Because there's something bigger, greater than any of us can imagine, that's controlling everything. You mess up because _it _made you, you don't know what your power is because _it _decides when you find out and people _will_ die," Mia closed her eyes and lowered her head, "because _it _says they have to." Her fiddling had increased and Matt watched as her hair slipped through her fingers faster than before. "So stop," he said loudly before moving forwards fast, catching her hand and moving it away from her face violently, "being so nervous." He whispered quietly as he leant forwards and blew that strand of hair away from her face, for a moment Mia was speechless as her own hazel eyes were locked on Matt's intense blue ones. He kept her there, still for a moment, wanting to show her there was nothing to be scared of, before sitting back down. There was a minute of silence before it was broken by Richard's laughter; everyone was still in shock apart from Matt who turned to him. "What is it?"

"You thought they were scared before," Richard said and pointed back to the other three, "look at them now!" He said and Matt turned back to them, indeed they were staring at Richard and Matt as though they were both insane for finding the situation humorous. Pedro, Jamie and Mia looked at each other for some form of explanation but when Mia saw Jamie's horrified face she began to giggle. She put a hand to her mouth but couldn't stop and soon a smile spread across Jamie's face too. Pedro was soon smiling at their actions as Mia and Jamie began to laugh and even though he didn't quite understand he too laughed at the insane reality of their situation. Matt, glanced around at them all again. Sure, Jamie, _they, _had lost Scott but they'd get him back. Sure Scar had been captured but they'd find her. And there was something wonderful, something that almost felt like a family, like a home, was forming between the guardian's and their protector. Matt wasn't sure; he couldn't really remember that feeling of warmth, happiness, safety, but he was sure that so long as they were together, they'd be fine.

The laughter stopped suddenly. The car came to a halt outside a large building that could have had any purpose; it could have been a bank, a library, a town hall because it had no markings, just the look of a building that people made because they needed somewhere to put things. Pedro muttered something under his breath and Matt took the initiative as no one looked as if they wanted to get out of the car so he did first, beckoning Jamie with a gesture. Slowly, painfully slow for Matt, they all got out of the car.

"Oh God," Mia whispered as she looked to the doors of the building that had opened suddenly as though the building itself had been waiting for them.

"Come on," Richard said urgently as he paid their driver and grabbed Mia's hand to take her in. Matt noticed this and still found it strange, the fatherly affection Richard had developed for Mia. Matt had always seen the man as an older brother, a friend and as he thought about it a strange feeling in a stomach arose. Last night he'd shouted at Richard, told the man he could never be or act like his father and he felt bad about saying it. Matt walked in after Pedro and Jamie still thinking about what he'd said. They'd never discussed Matt's parents, not since he told Richard about what had happened, but the closer he was becoming to the man the more he began to realise that Richard _was _reminding him of a parent he once had and Matt was only angry because-

"They'll see you one at a time." He heard a voice say as he bumped into Pedro.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"It…OK," Pedro said back and Matt looked at the woman at reception as she told Matt he was going in first, before realising what Pedro had said. He looked back at him in shock before smiling and walking away from the group, he turned back to them for one last glance of support before walking through doors that opened for him and into a board room. It was a familiar sight but still one that annoyed him. Matt knew that the Nexus was only there to help him, to make sure he was OK but he had a natural dislike for authority figures and looked at each of them wearily. Thirteen people sat before him, Miss Ashwood at the head of the table and he sat down at the opposite end, nothing was said for a few moments.

"Matt." Miss Ashwood said in her most consoling tone. Matt said nothing; he waited to be asked a question.

"How are you?" A man with a strong Australian accent asked and Matt glanced over to him quickly before averting his eyes back to Miss Ashwood.

"Fine." He said and was already growing impatient; he wanted to be updated on the Old Ones, on any information they'd found on Scar and if they'd located Scott.

"Firstly," Miss Ashwood said quickly; aware his attention was on her, "we are going to ask you some questions."

"OK."

"The girl, Mia, you have brought her?" Everyone at the table sat up straighter and looked to Matt with great interest.

"Yes." At this one word everyone at the table began to talk at once, it wasn't until Miss Ashwood put her hand up to gesture them to stop that there was silence once more.

"How is she?" A woman with a strong American accent, a woman which Matt remembered was called Nathalie, asked but soon changed her mind. "I mean, how do you find her?" She leant in further and Matt found he didn't like the way they talked about Mia; like she was some sort of object he'd bought.

"Useful," was all he could think to say and she leant in further to whisper.

"Is she pretty Mathew?"

"What?" Matt was completely thrown by the question; luckily he was saved by Miss Ashwood.

"Nathalie," the woman said quickly before the group could begin talking again, "I don't think that's entirely appropriate." There was a mutter of approval at this comment and Nathalie Johnson sat back in her seat, smirking slightly at the fact that Matt was blushing. He suddenly felt very hot as everyone's eyes were on him; he sat in his seat and stared at the table in front of him, not daring to look up because he was sure they were all laughing silently at him. "Matt, you know what we're getting at…" Matt looked up at this, it was unlike Miss Ashwood to lose her nerve, to be unable to say what she was thinking. Matt knew the question, he knew the answer, but that just meant trouble. He took a deep breath.

"I know what you want to ask and the answer is yes." Matt paused for the outcry but there was none, he looked around and the opposite of what he thought would happen, happened. Everyone relaxed, before they'd been slightly tense but now it was as though they welcomed this revelation. "Wait, what…I thought," he looked around to someone for an explanation, "that it was a bad thing." Richard had pulled Mia and Matt apart last night but these people were glad they were together.

"Matt," Miss Ashwood almost, for the first time Matt had known her, laughed. "We'd be worried if you didn't feel that way; everything has to play out like it did in the past-"

"Well not everything." A man with no accent Matt could recognise, meaning he was English, spoke for the first time. Matt raised an eyebrow at him, taking in the crisp suit that really didn't suit him and the fake smile that wasn't welcoming. "Perhaps we should call Mia in for that?" He turned to Ashwood who contemplated for a moment before holding up a hand to signal she wanted to wait a few moments.

"Scott is gone." She said one simple statement but it took a while for Matt to respond, he was still staring at the English man; what had he meant?

"Yeah, but he's in a better state than last time, Jamie will try to make contact with him. In the mean time we still have our dreams," Matt tried to ignore the impressed looks that came his way; when he'd met the Nexus before he had let them take charge but it seemed as the other gatekeepers had come into his company he was growing into their leader. "As for Scar, the situation remains the same?" He asked the room at large and everyone nodded.

"We've not had any clues as to her whereabouts, we were hoping you could shed some light on the matter but it seems you are as much in the dark as we are." Miss Ashwood's hand skimmed over the top of the papers in front of her and as she read them Matt could sense everyone was on edge again, they wanted to tell him something. "I do not think it is right." Matt leant forwards in a curious manner, it didn't seem like she was talking to him but to the group.

"I think they should both know," Nathalie Johnson said and Miss Ashwood leant back and gestured to someone behind Matt.

"They're children." Miss Ashwood replied.

"That reasoning is not applicable to these kids," someone, a religious man Matt guessed from his attire, responded to this. And they all began to talk at once, and Matt was instantly annoyed; a moment ago they had treated him like he was important, now they were disregarding him completely. He shook his head but then the talking stopped, everyone looked to the doorway and Matt turned to look too. Mia walked in, looking fragile and nervous as Matt remembered her. She walked slowly towards him and looked around the room, as she got closer to him Matt could see she was shaking. She sat down next to him and everyone held their breath, no one knew who should speak first.

"Hello Mia." Miss Ashwood said and Mia looked up for a moment before looking away. She didn't respond, she didn't say anything, merely stared at the table in front of her. Her lips began to shake and under the table Matt put his hand on hers. "I am Miss Ashwood and this," she gestured to the people sat at the table, "is the Nexus. We're here to help," Ashwood could tell she wasn't going to get a decent response from the girl so just kept talking. "Do you have any questions?" Mia looked up and nodded.

"Why am I dangerous?" The group seemed surprised by this question.

"Who said you were?" The English man asked and Mia shrugged.

"Richard." Matt answered for her and everyone shook their heads, he could've sworn he heard someone whisper the word "foolish," before Miss Ashwood spoke again.

"I trust you have been told of the Gatekeepers, the Old Ones, and your past?" Mia thought for a moment.

"I know about the first two but no one explained about my past; I guess it was that that makes me dangerous?" She asked and Ashwood smiled at her in a way that showed her regret.

"It's because in the past," she nodded to Matt, "you betrayed the man you loved." Everyone was surprised that Matt and Mia did not blush or need to shy away but they were intent to listen, it showed a sense of maturity that none of them had noticed before. "Now we've been researching because we really did not see this happening, we thought that once trapped in another dimension you'd stay there but…" Ashwood laughed and others chuckled to themselves, "even we can be surprised."

"But what happened, why did it happen?" Matt asked urgently.

"Matt I still don't believe it's a good idea for me to tell you this but," again she gestured around the room, "everyone else seemed to think it was a good idea." Matt's grip on Mia's hand increased and she squeezed his hand with equal force. "But as I said we've been researching and it turns out it's because the first," she nodded in Matt's direction, "and the protector of the five," she nodded to Mia, "had a son."

* * *

This plot just keeps getting more complex, I'm beginning to forget where i was actually going XP But yeah the whole last part was a bit like- you what?! But it just adds to Matt's crazy character complex which I've created and am currently developing...the guys pretty much gonna break down completely at one point...bless him, it's difficult saving the world. I should know. I was there. Do you remember that Ember- from yr 10 history?! HAHAHA

"Hitler's rise to power was an amazing process from a politics point of view."

"I should know. i was there."

hahaha...ok, i'm gonna shut up!

_**Review it! **_

_**XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD  
**_


	11. You Can't Be Them

Ok guys, I'm going to let you in on a secret…tell no one. But you know when people are like, you have to make it all angsty for the character, angst, angst, angst, yeah, really make the reader feel their pain…? I just sort of nod my head and am like- yeah totally, I dig you on that! When actually I have no clue on how to make an audience suffer along with a character…so could you like read Matt's little "angsty" bits and tell me if that's what these people are talking about? Thanks.

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A stunned silence met these words. Every pair of eyes the Nexus could offer were focused on Matt and Mia, who sat, shocked at the head of the table. All previous evidence of Mia being nervous was gone, her shaking has stopped as she sat, still and so unmoving it was as though she wasn't breathing. Matt's hand dropped from hers as he rubbed the back of his neck in a way that showed his stress, he looked down and shook his head, still looking shaken. Mia spoke first.

"A son?" Was all she could say, "as in s-u-n or s-o-n?"

"As in a child." Miss Ashwood said slowly and Mia fell back in her chair, for some reason looking more impressed than shocked now. In fact it seemed as though Mia was about to smile, she leant forwards quickly again and the group became more interested in her now as she was becoming more like herself. "But...weren't we like, 12?" She whispered in disbelief and it took a while for the Nexus to realise what she meant.

"Well, dates show that the five were 19 when the battle for the world unfolded," Miss Ashwood said ominously. "The child was just about walking-"

"So he must have been about 10 months old." Mia said and Matt, reacting it seemed for the first time to this news looked at her with scrutiny, she noticed his eyes on her and she turned to him. "The babies in my orphanage used to start walking around then." She smiled at him and the Nexus looked around at each other, not entirely sure that they thought this was the way she should react. Matt cleared his throat and sat up straight, trying to regain control of the situation again.

"So what happened?" He wanted to know, he still couldn't quite understand the idea of him being a parent so he tried not to think about it. Another man, the religious one, old and fragile looking, adressed them both.

"The child was born to the First and the Protector," he had a rough voice that over the years had deteriorated to a quiet growl. "His name is unknown, lost in scripture, burnt through time," he said dramatically. "From what I have gathered, the child had begun walking by the last war. These means that his mother was distracted by war, the protection of the five, maintaining society as partner to the leader and, at this time, the loss of her closest friend Sapling." Matt glanced at Mia; since when were her and Jamie so close? She seemed so intent to listen, she wasn't scared anymore, how did the idea of a child make anything less stressful? But it did for Mia, this prospect almost made her glow, before she hadn't been interested at all in the Five and her role but now she was keen to learn more. "Little time before the war the child went missing, loved was it so by the community that plans for war were put on hold, everyone went looking for the child..." His voice faltered, "everyone but the First."

"That's understandable," Mia said and Matt again sensed the Nexus' surprise at her calm reaction. "He should've kept the war a priority." Everyone nodded.

"Which is exactly what he did," the man continued. "Garnet found the child-"

"Wait, who's Garnet?" Mia asked.

"Oh, I apologise, that was your name in the past." Mia smiled at this, finally fascinated by her past. "Garnet found the child in the grasp of the Old Ones and as a mother she knew she would do anything to get her child back, safe, to her. But this came at a price; the Old Ones were close to torturing the child," Mia gasped. "Garnet endured several agonizing days of knowing her child was held captive by her enemy-"

"Why did she..I, wait?" Mia asked, her smile gone.

"Because the Old Ones made her a deal; bring them the First and they would return her child." Mia did not need to think; to many it seemed like a complex moral descision but Mia already knew what she'd do. "In the end, she went to the Old Ones, told them where they could find the First and they returned her child. For a year he was held captive by them," Mia lowered her head, thinking about what this meant. It did not go unnoticed by the Nexus that Matt remained silent. "When released he," the man searched for the right word, "stole some of the Protector's essence, wore it in a pendent around his neck. Then he banished the Protector and his son to another world-"

"WHAT?!"

"Good." Matt and Mia had spoken at the same time, they turned to each other, Mia looked furious and Matt kept his cool.

"...what?" Mia said slowly as though she had not heard him. Matt seemed to stumble with his words for a moment as he became unnerved by how angry Mia looked.

"She told the Old Ones where to find the Leader of the Five; the person who was going to help save the world!" Matt couldn't understand why Mia was angry.

"She did it..._I _did it for _our _son." She said slowly, emphasizing her position to the child and Matt's own responsibility.

"_You _jeopardised our chance to save the world." Matt said with equal slowness but he had raised his voice slightly and clenched his hand into a fist under the table; why was Mia being so childish?

"So you banished me; after everything turned out fine-"

"You could've been swayed again!" Matt shouted and stood up, Mia did too; her chair screeching as it scraped along the floor. "You could've ruined everything going after some kid!"

"Some kid?!" Mia shouted back and the people at the table exchanged glances; they'd entrusted Matt and Mia to be mature with this news but just because they were arguing did not necessarily mean they were being irrational. Was it not normal for parents to argue over the safety of their child? Especially when they had such different views about what it meant to be a parent. "He was our son!"

"He was one person over the lives of EVERYONE!" Matt banged a fist down on the table, a few members of the Nexus jumped, Mia didn't even flinch.

"HE WAS OUR BABY! YOU WERE HIS FATHER, TRY ACTING LIKE-"

"What's going on?!" Richard ran into the room and Mia and Matt blushed as they realised how angry they'd let themselves get in front of everyone. "I heard shouting." Jamie and Pedro followed after him, looking around with equal concern. Miss Ashwood stood up and Matt just realised he never thought she could look so scary; she was furious, whether with the Nexus for allowing this discussion to even begin or with Mia and Matt for reacting like this, he didn't know.

"I have heard enough." She didn't shout but her voice shook with anger as she leant forwards, resting her fists on the table in front of her. "I do not believe it was a mistake to tell you this, in fact I'm glad we did-"

"Tell them what?" Richard asked, looking from Mia to Matt and back again. Mia sighed and shook her head.

"In the past, Matt and I had a child; because of the kid being captured by the Old Ones I told them where to find Matt in order to get my child back. They held Matt hostage for a year and when released he banished me...and his son." She said quickly and shook her head again; giving Matt the dirtiest look she could muster. Richard mumbled something before moving forwards, Matt relaxed as Richard walked to him but was surprised and even hurt to see that the man went to Mia's side. He put an arm around her and for a few moments she still held Matt's gaze before turning away and hiding her face in Richard's shirt, as Matt looked to him Richard had a similar look of disgust and Matt still couldn't understand; what had he done wrong? Why was Richard, who was meant to be on his side, as his protector, comforting Mia and not him? Just because Matt didn't have to cry to show he was hurting too didn't mean he wasn't upset!

"Boys!" Miss Ashwood said suddenly, making them all jump, she smiled as she moved her head in the direction of Jamie and Pedro who almost squirmed under her scrutiny. She tried to regain some form of control, she tried to say something about talking to the boys but everyone was too aware, too fixed on the friction that was happening between Richard, Mia and Matt. The man and boy stared at each other on the brink of hate and anger, wondering what was going on in the other's mind. With one final glance to Mia, Matt walked out of the room. "Matt!" Miss Ashwood called out, sensing he had left, each member of the Nexus was shocked; they hadn't foreseen any of this happening. Matt had always been so calm and collected, never letting his emotions get the better of him but this time had _they_ gone too far? They'd entrusted his character to be able to cope but now, looking at Richard it seemed his only friend had…betrayed him to the girl he loved but couldn't understand. Was it all too much for a teenager to handle? Either way, the Nexus had blown it, big time. And Ashwood knew it; as Jamie watched her talk quickly with people around her in hushed voices, he could see the colour in her cheeks begin to rise. In fact everyone became flustered, talking fast and animated and Jamie could tell now that they were embarrassed. He smiled in a sick way; adults think that they have the solutions to everything, they think that they can tell you what to do and it'll be fine. Especially an organisation like the Nexus; they were going to control the lives of six of the most important kids in the world, and they had got something wrong. It was a wonderful sense of normality for Jamie; when he'd been told about the Nexus it had seemed as though they were some guardian angels, making sure nothing bad happened to the five. But knowing now that they could make mistakes reassured him and scared the hell out of him at the same time.

"I'll see to him," Richard said loudly, the Nexus quietened as he spoke and they all nodded. As Richard passed Jamie they boy could see he was annoyed; the Nexus were way out of their league, thinking they could handle or even understand the mind of teenagers. Perhaps saving the world should just be left to the kids. At least, that's how Jamie had always felt- the adults never do anything right for him, he was constantly being helped by children. He scowled before walking over to Mia and taking up Richard's position. Mia was surprised that he embraced her; she had become to think of Jamie as the kid who needed saving all the time. For the first time the tension in the room seemed to seep away as the Nexus saw this, Ashwood smiled again.

"Sapling." Was all she said and everyone was surprised when the boy looked over Mia's shoulder with cold, hard eyes; even though they were all the same age it was commonly known that Sapling was seen as the youngest of the group. It saddened the Nexus slightly to see just from his eyes that he'd grown up in the space of a few weeks. He nodded to her after a moment before she looked to Pedro, "Inti," again that same cold look was given to the group, although they knew Pedro did not understand their language he could guess what Mia's angry silence meant. "Alright, the three of you sit down please." Jamie sighed; Miss Ashwood was doing that thing where people don't quite know how to handle a situation so they just become irritable and strict to cover up their own mistakes. Jamie, Mia and Pedro took seats opposite her. The history lesson began.

* * *

"Matt where are you going?" Richard said in exasperation, following Matt who was walking swiftly down a corridor in the building. Matt didn't know where he was going, but he didn't care either. He didn't talk to Richard but kept on walking, determined to get away from the man, away from Mia, away from this whole damned thing. He broke into a run, down the corridor, left, up a flight of stairs, hoping like hell Richard couldn't follow him here. "Matt stop!" Richard called out but Matt kept running, the stairs seemed to carry on forever, he ran on and they muscles in his legs were beginning to scream in agony, until his body couldn't take it anymore, until he'd run to the top of the building and could go nowhere else. He reached the top step and the desire to keep moving, keep going away from that place kept his heart beating fast, the blood rushed in his ears so loud he couldn't hear his own heavy breathing. He wanted to shout out, to get rid of this feeling that over the past few days had been building up inside of him. He paced the small space in front of him and only realised a few moments later there was a door; freedom. He ran to it and wrenched it open before running out onto the roof and into the rain. Dark storm clouds had gathered over head and the rain drops fell onto him and seeped through his clothes. It was wonderfully soothing, until he heard beneath the clatter of rain on concrete, the sound of footsteps. He turned around and blinked away what could have been tears or raindrops from his eyes, even he wasn't sure. Richard was walking towards him at a slow pace, as though approaching a scared and lost child. "There was an elevator!" Richard shouted; why was he trying to make jokes at a time like this? Matt didn't know what to say, there were a million things he'd have liked to have shouted at the man. "Matt, come inside!"

"NO!" Matt finally shouted. "I don't," but words weren't enough anymore, he didn't know what to do, how to handle this feeling. "I don't want to go back!" He shouted and Richard moved forwards quickly, holding out an arm to beckon him forwards. "NO!" Matt shouted again and this time lashed out with his hand and as he did the door behind Richard slammed shut.

"Matt, I'm only here to protect and help-"

"No, I don't need it!" Matt shouted and shook his head, Richard was shivering from the cold, rain plastered his messy blonde hair to his forehead as he looked on to Matt who stood before him with fists clenched. As Richard looked closer he noticed tiny sparks, of what he assumed was electricity, begin to snap around Matt's fists. The boy narrowed his eyes as he looked at Richard with such anger the man was scared of him. Something terrible was happening to the atmosphere; even Richard could smell burning.

"Matt-"

"You're trying to act like them!" Matt shouted and Richard shook his head; what the hell was Matt talking about? "Since Mia came it's all you ever do!" He shouted and finally hot tears streaked down his face and mixed with the rain water. "You think you can be like them but you bloody can't!" He screamed.

"Matt, please!" Richard said desperately, noticing now that the area around them became darker, Matt's voice echoed in his head and the temperature had dropped.

"Stop trying to fucking be them!" Matt shouted incoherently, a mixture of swear words, sobs and remarks about "them." "Why me?!" He yelled into the darkness beyond Richard, "why us?" He ran his hands through his hair and fell to his knees. Richard was shocked, more shocked than he had ever been since meeting Matt, when they boy looked up with reddened eyes and a tear streaked face. "I love her," Matt whispered but for some reason Richard could hear it, "but I don't even know her!" He shouted and leant forwards, crying in the rain. "I've tried to cope," he took a shuddering breath, "but I can't anymore. Not with you, not with Mia, being like this!" Richard had to stop him, before his power or his emotions lead him to do something foolish. Richard moved forwards against the harsh winds that had begun to blow and reached Matt at a painfully slow pace. He put an arm around the boy and realised Matt had finished, given up, he slumped into Richards arms and it hurt Richard almost as Matt felt the pain, when he felt Matt shudder from weeping against his chest. Matt felt the warmth of Richard's embrace surround him and allowed himself to be cradled for a moment, but this action just reminded Matt of why he was so angry. Matt looked up and into Richard's eyes who was so shocked by the retribution he saw there that his arms left Matt and he stood up before taking a step away from the maddening boy. As Matt stood slowly Richard could see a part of him had lost control, he was being reckless with his power and the concrete around Matt's feet began to form cracks as though some huge, invisible pressure were upon them. Matt looked at Richard and could sense he wasn't himself at all; he'd finally given in to the pressures put upon him from the world. And he wanted out. He closed his eyes.

Suddenly, he could feel warmth around him, as though sunshine was returning to the day. The harsh winds stopped and even the rain became lighter. He snapped his eyes opened and saw that the scenery had returned to normal. For a moment he was confused but then cried out in pain and put his hands to his head. There was something inside of him, some noise so loud he couldn't bear it, screeching inside his mind like an untuned radio. Then the voice came through clearly in his mind, suppressing the emotion inside of him; how it was doing that he didn't know, he just wanted it to stop. It did. As quickly as it had started the sound had stopped. Matt opened his eyes again and looked up. Richard was stood in front of him with two other figures, grim faces on both of them with torn and dirtied clothes. He held up a hand in thanks to the both of them. Scarlet and Scott smiled; so this was their leader.

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Is that what's meant by "angst" I've never…at least I think I've never written it before so I still don't get it XP that's really stupid I know…like how I don't understand the mann-whitney U test…it's so simple to everyone but oh no, Valentine needs an extra five minutes to get it XP crappy biology.

ANWAYS

**_Reviews are always appreciated!_**

Also, do not even think to apply a slash-interpretation to the Matt and Richard moment in this…cause I'm not cool enough to do that.

Erm, I had one more thing to say…oh yeah- Matt's craziness will be FULLY explained next chap when Mia's all in his face about summat...oh- the baby and how could Matt have done that?! Selfish git.

AND- Scarlet and Scott have showed up! How the hell did that happen? No idea. And I wrote the freaking thing.


	12. It Wasn't your Fault

Yippee- an update!

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"You know for a second there, I really thought I'd lost you." Richard said quietly, but it sounded even quieter after the deafening sounds in Matt's head before. Matt ran a hand through his hair and sat on the ground of the roof, it was wet but he didn't care.

"Lost me?" he said slowly, still angry with Richard but too tired to put much effort into his actions. Richard nodded and stood up with help from Scott. "To what?" He said quickly, wanting Richard to explain.

"To whoever "they" are, to whatever forces you control…I," Richard really couldn't explain how he felt so fell quiet. "Let's go down, you need to meet the Nexus." Richard addressed the other two who nodded but Matt couldn't help notice that Scar kept her eyes on him for a minute longer than the others before turning and moving away.

"Scar!" Matt called to her and she turned, waiting for him to approach her. "It's…good to finally meet you." He said and smiled at her, she smiled grimly back before brushing down the shoulder of her jacket. "What happened to you guys?" Matt said, coughing as the dust and dirt that came off her jacket went into his face.

"Sorry," Scar laughed before taking his hand, he was surprised by her action and recoiled immediately but she was already dragging him back into the building. "Come on!" She encouraged him and for some reason Matt found himself bemused by her character; she looked like she'd been through a lot and yet she was still full of energy. She stopped so quickly Matt almost fell into her. He looked around and found that they were already outside the room the Nexus were sat in. He gulped as he thought of what he would say when he met Mia again; the anger had been drained out of him but there was still a tiny spark that flickered every time he thought about what she'd done. Matt removed his hand from Scarlet's grip quickly and turned to Richard who was stood with Scott.

"What're we waiting for?" He snapped at the man who just seemed bored with the way Matt was acting. He rubbed the back of his neck before looking the boy in the eye.

"They're briefing Mia, Jamie and Pedro first. Then they'll swap with Scar and Scott. Then we'll all go in." There was a patronising way in which Richard spoke that Matt didn't like; it was as though Richard had spoken as simply as possible just in case Matt got angry again. Matt sighed and walked away from Scar. It was strange; he should feel happy that they were all finally together but…nothing. Since the revelation of his…son, he shivered as he thought about it, nothing seemed to be great anymore. Since the revelation that Mia, whom he'd grown to love and respect already, killed something inside of him. That thing that Matt was known for…what was it? Oh yeah, not caring about much. As he didn't care, he didn't complain, they all looked to him as a leader but since Mia came into the picture, since he actually started to give a damn about all of this, he just worried. He never cared when it was just him but now he had her to think about. He wanted to protect her but how could he when they were divided by this one petty thing. Well, to Mia it wasn't petty; in fact it was a pretty big deal. Matt held his head in his hands; he had to stop thinking so much.

"Scott!" The shout brought Matt away from his thoughts and he looked up to see Jamie run to his twin brother and embrace him. Mia and Pedro walked out after him, smiling at the scene before them. Once Scott had assured his brother he was OK everyone turned to one another. The five took a step forwards, forming a circle in the hallway, they looked each other up and down.

"My God." They heard a whisper from the doorway and looked around to see Miss Ashwood with a hand to her mouth, facing the direction of the five, she sounded like she was about to cry. "There you are." She said, almost in the way a mother does when a child first learns to walk, first finds its feet, becomes independent and its own character. It was the same thing here; this force had finally come together, formed its identity. Slowly more members of the Nexus arrived at the doorway; many shook their heads in disbelief, one woman actually cried and the religious man muttered a prayer. Scott rubbed some dirt from his cheek and turned to Jamie who was on his right, Jamie nodded to him before looking to Pedro. It took a moment for the pair to break eye contact, it seemed as though the five themselves were finding it difficult to believe. Pedro turned to Scar who smiled triumphantly at him before they all looked to Matt.

"The five." He whispered hoarsely; there was something igniting in his veins, some power he'd never felt before.

"I heard we had a protector too." Scar asked and looked around; she was surprised to see Mia step forwards, at Matt's side but out of the circle. "MIA?!" Scar shook her head in disbelief and Mia laughed.

"I don't believe it," Mia said with equal surprise, though whether she was commenting on the fact that they knew each other or the fact that they were together no one knew. One thing was for certain, as each member of the five turned to the Nexus as though ready for war, what had happened in their lives before this very moment meant nothing now. It was this very moment, meeting, that gave them purpose. It was coming together as the five that made them, the past of this life was irrelevant; their lives were about to begin.

"Well," Miss Ashwood said slightly breathlessly, "could we see Scarle-"

"Call me Scar." Miss Ashwood smiled at her.

"Scar and Scott please?" She asked the group who all nodded in unison and as Scott and Scar walked into the room they all looked to each member of the Nexus and realised that their lives were just beginning as well. They'd waited all this time for the five to come together and now that had happened it was like, all they had ever dreamt, all they had ever worked for was nearly coming to an end. The doors closed behind the two of the five and there was a moment of silence. Jamie wiped his eyes hurriedly and Mia put a hand on his shoulder before they looked at each other and smiled. It was a smile of relief that Pedro and Richard were soon sharing. Mia turned to Matt.

"We should talk." She said pointedly and Matt didn't look at her. He wasn't sure if he was still angry and didn't think he could gather up the courage to look Mia in the eyes anyway. He went to another side door and checked the room was empty before walking in. Mia followed a moment later. It was a room just like the other one; a board room with a long table and a few windows. Matt sat on the table and Mia leant against the wall opposite him.

"The way you acted before-"

"What about it?" Matt said quickly. Mia looked at him sternly before sighing.

"For God's sake Matt!" She said impatiently, "what's wrong with you?" It was such a stupid and unnecessary question that Matt was instantly annoyed.

"What do you mean?" He asked; he was growing impatient with her.

"It's not what I did is it?" Again with the stupid questions; if you're going to ask a question they should always have a point! "It's the idea of you betraying your son and me; that's what's made you angry." Matt actually gasped; where the hell had she got that from.

"What're you talking about?" He said quickly but soon there was that feeling inside of him again; how could he hide what he was feeling from her when she already knew so well?

"You've got a problem-"

"I think it might be you." Matt muttered and Mia walked straight up to him until her face was only a few inches from his.

"You've got issues," she said quietly and he was unnerved by the way she looked into his eyes; as though she were reading him. "With the idea of family." She said plainly and waited for his response. He looked at her before pushing her away and standing up, Mia stumbled backwards but quickly regained her balance and was immediately scared as she looked at Matt again. He stood with his eyes narrowed, fists clenched.

"You don't know me." He whispered dangerously, "why the hell do you say that?!" He shouted at her.

"You have a problem with the idea of a parent!" Mia shouted back but Matt shook his head. He advanced towards her.

"Shut up-"

"When Richard acts like a parent to anyone but you, you get angry-" Matt shook his head.

"You're wrong-"

"When I was crying and he comforted me you hated it!"

"I did not!" Why was he saying these things when he knew she was right?

"You hated it because you thought you had a second chance!" Mia shouted desperately; terrified of the intense way Matt stared at her.

"A second chance at what?!"

"A second chance to make it up to them!" She shouted. And there it was again; this mysterious "them" but both Matt and Mia knew who it was; it was Matt's parents. "But you hated him because in the moment of comforting me he loathed you; you thought he hated you; just like the way you think they hate you now!" Mia screamed at Matt who was merely inches from her face.

"What're you-"

"And now you hate me," Mia whispered, her bottom lip trembled as tears ran down her face, "and you hate our son because you can't be a parent! You fear he and I will betray you-"

"WHY WOULD I FEAR THAT?!"

Because you could never get over it-"

"GET OVER WHAT?!"

"THE FACT THAT YOU LET THEM DIE-" Mia gasped and put a hand to her mouth. There was a stunned moment of silence. "Matt," Mia whispered and moved to embrace him but he put a hand up to stop her. He didn't look at her but she could see his eyes trying to figure it out; trying to make sense of what she had said. She had said he hated Richard because Richard had betrayed him…he thought it was his second chance…what did that mean. And then, almost as if she could read his mind, as Matt fell back to sit on the table Mia embraced him and he rested his head on her chest. There was a numbing sense of realisation going through him. "Richard stood for a chance to make it up to a parent; to say sorry to them, to make them proud of you." Mia whispered into his dark hair and he grabbed the back of her dress in an attempt to hold on to her. "But you've always been scared Matt; that they hated you for it. So when Richard…betrayed you to me, you really believed your second chance was lost, that they really did hate you." Silent tears crept down Matt's face and dampened Mia's blouse, but she didn't care. "By screaming at him that he could _never be them, _you were trying to convince yourself that he wasn't them; trying to convince yourself that they didn't hate you." Mia kissed Matt's head as he sat, unmoving in her embrace. "And now, upon hearing of a son it scared you," she took a breath; how did she know him so well? "It scared you because he could do the same to you; he could betray you like you did to your parents-"

"Mia, please stop," Matt whispered feebly.

"I'm sorry Matt," Mia whispered down to him, "but you have to realise that it wasn't your fault." Matt looked up at her.

"But I saw their death; I could've told them not to go-"

"You were a child," she said consolingly, wiping tears from his face. "You were scared yourself-"

"But I acted so selfishly-"

"How were you to know it would really come true?" Mia prompted him, "you have to stop believing that they hate you because they don't-"

"How do you know?" Matt put his head back on her chest and Mia suddenly became aware of Matt's hands on her hips.

"Because no parent would ever hate their child like that; it wasn't your fault." Mia said but was distracted as Matt's hands gripped her dress tightly as thought pulling it down. Matt closed his eyes and felt Mia's chest rise and fall as she breathed. She knew everything about him didn't she? She knew everything that was wrong. "Matt," she pulled his hair to get his attention and pull his head up to face her; "it wasn't your fault." She whispered and Matt looked at her and she looked so sure of herself that he was finally convinced. He moved a hand to her neck and pulled her face down to his.

"I'm sorry," he whispered and Mia laughed.

"So am I," she whispered back before he kissed her. Mia was so shocked she jumped back and almost fell over.

"Woah," Matt said, grabbing onto her hand and as she got over the shock they both laughed. Mia shook her head and was serious once more.

"We have a world to save," she said, "you have to lead us into war; think you're ready?" She asked and Matt stood up.

"With you by my side and the five finally together," he thought for a moment, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." There was a knock at the door and they both jumped.

"Matt, Mia, they're calling us in." They heard Jamie shout from beyond the door.

"Coming!" Mia shouted and she and Matt made their way out of the door. Little did they know that an old enemy had heard their conversation, for there were shadows in that room lurking in places unseen.

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Yeah so that wasn't the greatest chapter i've ever written but it explained (I hope) why Matt is a crazy fool.

Review please!

Also, who else thinks it's rubbish that they got rid of the AH section?!


	13. Iyouweyeah

OK I know I haven't explained what Scar and Scott got up to but in all honesty I can't be bothered…and I mean that in the nicest possible way; I just want this story to be over with cause I like the ending XD so sorry for those of you who wanted to know; I think I'll just let Scar and Scott have some flashbacks or something.

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Matt and Mia entered the board room last; everyone smiled happily at them as they noticed there was no animosity between them now. Four of the five were sat in a line at the end of the table, as Matt passed them each looked up at him, with the same hard and determined look. The scriptures may have referred to them as children but the Nexus knew their childhood was over now. Mia and Matt sat down, completing the line. Richard was sat next to the woman who called herself Nathalie Johnson. There was a good two minutes of silence as the Nexus and the Five looked around at each other, taking in the situation, still getting over the shock that the Five were finally together. But it also took a while for another question to come to mind: what the hell were they going to do now?

"The Five," Miss Ashwood whispered at them all with a slight nodding of her head. "OK," she said and for the first time since Matt knew her she actually seemed flustered, unsure of what to do as though she hadn't really planned this far ahead. She rustled through papers, touching the language only she understood and whispering to herself. "Right, let us go through things in order." The Nexus mumbled there agreement and the Five nodded grimly; they were all incredibly tired, some of them emotionally and others physically drained; unfortunately Matt was feeling the worst of both things. "Scar and Scott have got some good information that tells us exactly of the Old ones plan," she smiled at Scar who sat forwards in her chair, Mia was slightly unnerved to see she addressed Matt, not the entire room.

"My father was in league with the Old Ones," she said and was happy to hear there were no pitiful looks or murmurs of consolation towards her. Matt nodded as she spoke and sat forwards as well, a woman next to Pedro whispered a translation but it seemed he was keeping up anyway. "While they held us captive they drugged us, well me mostly-"

"That reminds me," Miss Ashwood cut in and turned to the man next to her, "those two need to have a medical," the Australian man nodded and began to make a quiet phone call, "I also want Mia checked," she added as an after thought. Mia smiled at her in appreciation even thought Ashwood couldn't see her politeness.

"Anyways," Scar said and people smiled at her term; reminding them again that they are just teenagers. "They drugged us but we heard quite a lot." The Nexus found it strangely amusing that the Five almost seemed to know exactly when another was allowing them to speak; for Scar simply stopped talking and Scott continued for her.

"The last gate is Stonehenge." He said and everyone shared sceptical looks, "what?" He asked and the Nexus was already becoming accustomed to their personalities even though they'd only been together for an hour. Scott was known for his short temper but often long silences; he'd always think before speaking unless something was annoying him.

"Stonehenge." Matt said simply and leant back in his chair. The Nexus' attention turned to him; the leader. They knew Matt the best; he never complained, he got on with what he had to do because he wanted to get out of it as soon as possible. He never showed what he was feeling or thinking, at least not very often, because he knew if the Five saw he was scared then they would feel the same way. "We've been told that it was merely a fake gate; set up to distract the Five." He shrugged and Scar's face fell; the Nexus knew they should be paying attention to the conversation but they were simply amazed at the way the Five were acting. Scar instantly became animated like the bubbly, positive person they had thought she'd be. It was as if characters of a book had come to life for the Nexus; a group of people they had merely read about were in front of them, talking to each other as though they'd known each other their whole lives. It was quite incredible. "Right?" Matt said loudly and woke the Nexus out of their reverie; they nodded at him enthusiastically but hadn't really been paying attention, only Miss Ashwood responded with something decent.

"This is true," she said with a slight smile; perhaps these kids didn't need her after all.

"But Matt," Mia put a hand on his shoulder and everyone smiled; she was slowly filling her part to. As partner to the leader of the Five she already had the role of the consoling figure, calm and had already developed a mother-like relationship with Jamie. "Who gave you this information?" Matt looked back at her.

"Sir Michael Marsh."

"And wasn't he a servant to the Old Ones; hardly the most reliable source." She said and Matt thought for a moment.

"I guess." He muttered and looked back to Scar with interest as she smiled triumphantly. For the first time in the meeting Jamie sat forwards.

"Then we should go there." He said quickly and looked around to everyone in the room who smiled at his enthusiasm; he was easily deemed the "youngest" of the group and everyone favoured him but his naivety was quickly running out as he'd been through a lot these past few weeks. "That's the general idea of this whole thing isn't it," he said as no one had agreed with him yet, "we just go to where the gate is and wait it out?" He asked and everyone nodded.

"This is a good idea," a man with dark skin spoke and everyone turned to him, he had a strange accent, a mixture of things that no one could place.

"Yes but," Miss Ashwood said seriously, "there are usually more things pointing towards the gate; more clues-"

"We heard it from the Old One's minions themselves!" Scott said with discretion.

"Stonehenge?" Mia muttered and everyone could tell from her tone she was recollecting some information. She seemed to remember and sat upright, "before John and I came to Hong Kong he bought a hotel, the Royal Chase Hotel," she thought for a moment, "and I'm sure it's pretty much right next to Stonehenge; that's why he chose it, good for tourists," she added on the end and the five smiled at her. "Good enough evidence?" She turned to Ashwood and raised an eyebrow, "the protector of the five partially owns a place to crash near there?" She said and the Nexus looked at each other with confused looks.

"A place to…crash?" Miss Ashwood asked and the Five nearly started laughing at the bemused expressions on everyone's faces.

"She means," Scar said for Mia, "a place for us to stay until the time comes." The Nexus all nodded their heads as the Five exchanged glances before smiling.

"Alright," Matt said suddenly, "we go to Stonehenge and hang out…_wait," _he added as a translation just in case, "until the Old Ones show up to do their ritual," he said slowly waiting for the nods to his comments, "and we fight?" There was a murmur of agreement.

"While waiting you will be trained, educated and looked after," Miss Ashwood said, "we will be in contact from our base in London, if you need us you can ring." She smiled at them, "you will be staying in Hong Kong for two more nights, in the mean time I will send a team to turn the hotel into a safe house." As she said this she looked to the Australian man who began to make more phone calls. "You five shall stay in a safe house here and have medical check-ups," she said, thinking things through. "Richard will of course travel with you along with…" As she spoke she looked to the door way, the sound of high heels against the floor entered the room, the five turned in their chairs.

"Alicia!" Jamie whispered and stood up, "she smiled at him and then looked round at the group. They saw a pretty woman in a long red coat, white blouse, jeans and boots; she must've been the same age as…everyone looked round to Richard and Scar bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Even Scott's mouth twitched into a smirk, Mia turned her giggle into cough; only Matt and Pedro had no reaction to the completely gormless look that adorned Richard's face as he looked at Alicia. The woman seemed to notice him for the first time and held out a hand, Richard stood up as she did so.

"Alicia McGuire," she said politely and Richard took her hand to shake it.

"Richard Cole." Matt finally got what the look on Mia's face meant and just stared in disbelief at the pair in front of him.

"I guess I'm your new best friend," Alicia said smoothly and Scar and Mia nodded their heads in appreciation at her statement; a look of approval on their faces. Richard took a moment before opening his mouth.

"I-you-we…yeah." Was all he said; Matt's heart sank and Scott hung his head in embarrassment on Richard's behalf.

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Yeah not much happened this chapter but it'll get moving again…PROMISE!


	14. Strangers

**Hello, it's been too long! This chapter isn't much, just getting me back into the whole PO5 vibe and character relationships etc.

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**

Mia walked into the kitchen of their quarters of the hotel. The living quarters where staff usually stayed was now inhabited by the five, their protector and the two adults. They had arrived here last night and she had hardly slept; the medical examination they had received before they traveled had seen her poked, prodded, injected, starved and now she just felt sick. It was half past six in the morning, half an hour before everyone said they would wake up, and as she entered the kitchen she switched on the light.

"Hey," she jumped as he spoke and turned around at the fridge. She leant against the cool, metal cabinet and appraised Scott who was sat on his lonesome at the breakfast table.

"Hey," she greeted him with a smile and tried to hide the fact that she was surprised he'd been sat by himself in the dark. "Can't sleep?" She asked and turned to the fridge to retrieve a bottle of juice. She unscrewed the lid of the bottle, placed it on the breakfast table as she sat down and drank slowly.

"No," Scott said after a few moments of just watching her. He wasn't going to tell her, even if Jamie said she were trustworthy or kind, he couldn't tell her that nightmares kept him from his sleep. Mia seemed to sense this and as her hazel eyes looked up at him, he looked away.

"Training starts in a few hours." Mia said quietly and he nodded. "Do you…" Mia hesitated, she wasn't sure how to ask this question; "do you think you're ready for this?" She finally asked.

"No," and even though it was the answer no one wanted to hear, even though it was the last thing Scott should have said, it made her smile. She liked Scott for this reason; he was truthful, pragmatic and loyal. "You?" Mia laughed.

"You five are the ones who will be fighting," she explained, "what do I do?" Her laughter subsided, "apart from watch you all…watch you all win a war that I'm no part of." She brought her knees up to her chest and pushed her hair away from her face.

"You know you play an important role." Scott assured her and she frowned.

"I don't care." She said, knowing that ignoring his comment would not offend him, "I just want this to be over with-"

"I know how you feel." Pedro said as he entered and Scott and Mia nodded to him. He sat down besides Mia and rubbed his eyes. "The sooner this war is over, the better." Scar walked in, shielding her eyes from the light and like a zombie walked towards the sink. When she got there she hoisted herself onto the kitchen counter and poured herself a glass of water.

"We have to practice first." Scar mumbled under her breath and put her glass down. "Master our powers; then we can properly fight!" She exclaimed while stifling a yawn.

"Is everyone already awake?" Jamie said as he walked in too. As Jamie walked past Mia he patted her shoulder and she shook her head.

"Adults are still asleep." She said, tilting her head back to him, "and Matt." She stood up and placed the cap back on her juice bottle. "I'll go wake him up." She said and left the room, the others looked around at each other.

"I thought they were told to stay away from each other?" Scar asked quietly and Pedro shrugged.

"Don't dwell on it," Scott reassured her and stood up, "they've both matured since last time." Jamie nodded slowly in agreement.

"They're not stupid." Jamie added, "and Matt wouldn't let anything get in the way of preparing for the war." Everyone shared a moment of thoughtful silence, each not saying it, but hoping that Jamie was right.

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Matt stood at the window or his room, looking out onto the gardens of the hotel and marveled at just how big they were. The greenery, the fields, the forests seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon. He had always been surrounded by the concrete confinement of Ipswich and decided he preferred this. He sighed; thinking about the oncoming tasks was too daunting, he'd rather marvel at the scenery. He roughly pulled off his t-shirt and ruffled his hair as he flung the t-shirt onto the bed. He looked down to his arms, chest and torso and saw that the dye from Peru had completely faded and as he prodded his chest he still felt a sting from bruises. He turned as the door to his room opened and in walked Mia. They looked at each other uncertainly for a few seconds.

"Hi." She said quietly and looked away nervously.

"Hey," he said with a slight nod. "How are you?" He asked and she shrugged.

"Good, I guess. You?" She said almost robotically and Matt laughed.

"Why are you talking like that?"

"Like what?"

"As if I'm a stranger?" she smiled as he said this but it faded quickly. She twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "So this is how it's going to be?" Matt asked after a while and she looked up at him.

"I guess so." Mia replied and stopped twirling her hair to put her hands on her hips. "Friends." She finally admitted.

"I don't think I like that." Matt muttered and Mia laughed harshly.

"You're going to have to." Mia and Matt had been told, however inexplicitly, to remain distant from each other. Neither had minded when first told but as they realized they had to live together, see each other every day and repress their feelings, they didn't think they could keep up the farce. Matt, who was becoming more reckless after Hong Kong, was becoming more frustrated than Mia and in truth, she was becoming scared.

"Fine," he shrugged and walked past his bed to his bathroom, "you can leave." He snapped.

"You don't have to act like-"

"Like what?" He turned to her sharply and as his sharp blue eyes flicked over to Mia and she gulped.

"Like such a jerk." She said and Matt leant against his bathroom door with a sick smile.

"I'm sorry," he said and Mia rolled her eyes at his tone, "could you _please _leave?" Mia turned away from him and put her hand on the handle of his door.

"You should focus on the oncoming war," she whispered, "and not forge this one against me." And with that she left, leaving Matt to look like an idiot. He shook his head; he wouldn't be so angry at her if she weren't such a coward. He couldn't understand what the point was in hiding what was clear to everyone. He needed her now more than ever, now that they were so close to the end but she, like the adults, had agreed to keep distant from him. He pushed the bathroom door opened and tried not to think about it anymore.

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**Review it to encourage me to write more…in serious need of encouragement! **


	15. Burning

**Valentine is here, and is sorry for the late update :(**

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"Miss Ostin," a slim, white man in a tight suit appraised Mia as she walked into the small room. The Five and the Protector went into training as of eight o'clock this morning. None of them were looking forward to it. They themselves did not understand their own powers, how were a group of six adults meant to teach them how to control it? And yet they had all filed into the six rooms along one corridor. Mia had been allocated the library and all the books had been changed to works on The Old Ones and the Five and wars that never ended those few thousand years ago. Looking around at the old collection of books, Mia guessed most of her training would be studying.

That morning, Mia had found, in the cupboard of her room, new clothes that John had bought her as a gift for choosing the hotel. She hadn't cried, she hadn't even looked away; she simply picked out an outfit in stony silence and put the clothes on. She looked more like the Mia she used to know, the unconventional girl that John had loved. As she stood in the doorway in her pale blue skirt and white shirt, she peered over at the man. He must have been in his late thirties, with graying hair and dark eyes. He was one of those men that got better looking with age and Mia thought he was handsome in that vintage, dashing way.

"We will begin with connection." She changed her mind; he was annoying. She had no clue if she even had a proper power and he was already asking her to do stuff. "Stepping into the room may be a good idea." He said as she did not move. She walked towards him and he sighed as he remembered he had forgotten to introduce himself. "My name is Adam, I'll be teaching you for the next few weeks." Mia nodded. "Not a very talkative creature are you?" He said and tilted his head at her; this strange sentence and pose made her smile. "Ah, well we have a sense of humor, that's a start!" He exclaimed and clapped his hands together. "Just one little word?" He asked of her and Mia raised an eyebrow before getting over that teenager intuition that this guy was a weirdo.

"Hi." She said simply and his grin broadened. He indicated a wooden chair next to a small table, in the middle of the room. Mia walked to the table tentatively and froze as she saw on the table was a knife. She looked up to Adam curiously and he nodded to show it was safe to take a seat.

"Now," he said once she had sat down, "we're going to connect with the five gatekeepers." It was strange, Mia thought, how the Five and their Protector were not known around the world and yet this man seemed to know everything about them. "I know you have no idea what I'm talking about, Mia," he sounded sincere. "But I assure you if you do as I say the rest will come naturally…if you are indeed the Protector." He added on the end. "Take the knife in your hands." She shot him a look and he sighed. "It is perfectly safe, nothing will happen." Mia held the knife with it's blade pointing to the wood of the table; it was an old knife, the blade had some rust but beneath the orange-brown colour she could just about make out some inscriptions in a language she didn't know. "Close your eyes." She did. Mia gasped; with her eyes shut she could almost feel as though someone was with her, or she was with something else. A warmth, a comforting sense of security, somewhere to her right. She opened her eyes and looked right, no one was there.

"What is that?" She asked and Adam smiled.

"You can feel something?" He asked as Mia continued to look to her right and search for something.

"It's as though someone is stood to my right," she muttered in disbelief. "Someone I love is very close, but I can't see them! Everything's dark but there is some light over there." Mia shook her head; she was talking nonsense. "It has no form, I can't see it but it's definitely there." She pointed to her right; it was such a sure feeling that when she closed her eyes something was there, that it almost scared her.

"This is your connection to one of the five." Adam said and Mia looked back to him. "One you have a great connection to." She couldn't quite understand it but nodded anyway. "I want you to close your eyes again and in the wood of the table, carve what this," he searched for an appropriate word, "presence, looks like to you." Mia nodded and closed her eyes, without her even being aware of it she pushed the point of the blade into the table and drew. Adam couldn't read it, it was the ancient language he was unfamiliar with it, but in a matter of seconds Mia had drawn out a symbol. Instinctively she placed her hand over the symbol and Adam saw, with growing amazement, the carving turn to red and orange as though hot and burning. Mia was saying something, whispering something and as she did the symbol's colours turned from orange, to white-hot and finally to black. In an instant the carving was gone. Mia felt the presence beside her begin to engulf her, wrap itself around her and when it did, as she felt that warmth sink into her she opened her eyes. Adam was laying with his back against the floor, a blank expression adorned his face and his eyes were closed.

"Adam?" Mia shouted and stood up; what had she done? Scar ran into the library and saw Adam lying on the floor, she looked to Mia's shocked face and nodded.

"Same thing happened to Sarah!" Scar shouted and they looked at each other a moment longer before running out to the next room. They opened the door and saw Matt stood with a confused look, by the window of his room. He was looking to the center of the floor and sure enough, his tutor was lain there. Silent and still, he just lay there. Matt looked up at them.

"What the hell happened?" He asked and they shook their heads.

"Has anyone else's tutor," Pedro asked as he walked in, he saw Matt's tutor on the floor and pointed, "done that?" Mia and Scar nodded. Pedro put a hand to his chin and thought what could have caused this.

"Was everyone practicing already? Matt asked and everyone nodded. "Was anyone doing anything different from usual?"

"What's going on?" Jamie asked as he and Scott also walked in. And as he did Mia turned to him with a strange look; he carried that same, wonderful presence she had felt earlier.

"Jamie," she began, "did you tell your tutor to lay on the floor?" He nodded.

"I told her that anyone who would stop Scott and I from going to the kitchen to get a drink, should lay on the floor and sleep." He shrugged.

"Anyone?" Matt repeated for him and Jamie looked down to Matt's tutor.

"It usually only works on the one person you're talking to…" Jamie said thoughtfully and suddenly brightened up; "maybe I'm just getting more powerful?" He suggested and the others nodded.

"Tell them all to get up again." Mia said to Jamie and he went over to Matt's tutor. He was surprised to find that the man was young; probably only a few years older than them. Jamie thought for a while.

"What's the problem?" Scott asked from the doorway and Jamie shrugged.

"I'm just not sure how to put it." There was a minute of silence, "anyone who I told to lay down and go to sleep can now wake up…?" He said it half disbelieving himself but sure enough, as he said it, Matt's tutor woke up. Jamie and Scotts' tutor, who went by the name of Michelle, ran to the room. She pointed an accusing finger at Jamie.

"We need to work on your wording young man," she said sternly, her red hair flopping down over her eyes.

"I'm afraid that was Mia's fault." Adam said as he too approached the room. Slowly, all the tutors and gatekeepers with their guardian, filed into the room.

"My fault?" Mia repeated and Adam nodded.

"That presence you felt?" She nodded, "was Jamie's power." He thought for a second, "see, when you connect with a gatekeeper, their powers increase, ten-fold." He explained, "you'll read about this soon." Adam assured her. "Usually Jamie could only control that one person he was talking to, but with that wording he used and the sudden increase in power, he was able to control everyone in the building." Jamie let out a long breath and everyone looked impressed. "I agree," Adam looked to the red headed woman, "Jamie must articulate himself better."

"So, I control their power?" Mia asked slowly and Adam shook his head, "you don't control it, you safeguard it." He said and Mia nodded slowly. "You can unlock their utmost potential, but you can in no way control how much power they have. This is only a part of your…use-"

"But why have a limit in the first place?" Matt asked and Adam frowned.

"Well you began to tap into the full potential of your power on the roof of the Nexus building in Hong Kong," Matt looked like he was going to interrupt but Adam spoke over him. "The building was almost destroyed; the limit is there for your own safety." Everyone nodded but Scar looked from Adam, to Mia and back again.

"But that means that while we're training Mia will be trying to connect with us?" She asked and her bright eyes blinked at Adam who nodded. "So at random times we'll suddenly have a boost in power." Adam nodded again, "and no one else sees this as potentially problematic?" No one said anything and Scar sighed in exasperation, "what if I cause a Tsunami on the other side of the world?" She asked and her tutor, Sarah, a short, round woman with red cheeks, wrinkled her nose.

"That shan't happen," she spoke in a surprisingly husky voice, "I'll be sure of that." And that seemed to be a decent enough promise for the adults but the six teenagers rolled their eyes; what is it with these people and vague answers? Eventually everyone filed out of Matt's room and he turned to his tutor who looked him up and down.

"Did you manage to move anything?" He asked and looked to the wall opposite. In metal boxes, reinforced steel kept glass panels in place. The glass allowed Matt to see inside the boxes and as they lines up, stacked into rows and columns, Matt could see the thirty most abundant elements in the world. Some were found mainly in the Earth's crust, others in the oceans and others in the human body. He was trying to control each of them but had so far failed.

"I can't smell burning." He said simply and Max, his tutor, frowned.

"Ok, so we need to figure out how to bring that memory back," he said quickly and pulled out a chair from under the table. "Sit down, this is going to take some time." Matt did as he was told. As Max trained Matt, he noticed that the boy seemed uneasy, that there was some hurt or anguish inside of him that was holding him back. The teenager, only a few years younger than Max, did not talk much, didn't show that he cared but he was trying, he was trying very hard. Matt wanted to control his power, to at least have a vague sense of when it was going to lend itself to him but so far, no luck. But they carried on nonetheless. And fifteen minutes later, Matt opened his eyes and brought himself out of the meditative state that Max had put him in.

"I can smell it so clearly now!" He exclaimed and then looked over his shoulder.

"What's up?" Max asked, concerned as to why Matt was looking back.

"I can feel her…making the whole room burn for me." Matt said quietly and looked down, trying to concentrate on that sense of someone almost holding him from behind and lending him strength. "But I'm not out of control," he was confused as to why this was; surely a surge of power would be knew to him but it came with a confidence, with the knowledge that he knew exactly what to do.

"You're the first of the five," Max shrugged as though it were no big deal, "this isn't going to be too hard for you; you've used your power the most anyway." Max looked at the boy and was shocked; Matt had a small smile. He'd heard about Matt as the reluctant hero, so to see him actually happy about his powers made Max feel that he was ready.

"Sulphur," Max stood at Matt's side and pointed to a pale yellow, odourless, brittle solid in a metal box high up on the wall, "move it." Matt nodded, stood and held out his hand. With a simple flick of his wrist the rocky element floated into the air. "Nice." Max smiled and patted Matt's shoulder.

"She's leaving." Matt said suddenly and as he became distracted the sulphur floated down a little.

"Stay with it, Matt." Max warned him and the raven haired boy looked back to the box. "Do it without her." Matt felt the presence, the heated, comforting, exhilarating presence leave him but he kept the element suspended in the air. "Pick up another one." Max said and Matt did it with ease. "What else would I expect from the First?" Max muttered as Matt began to lift more elements in their steel containers. There was a knock on the door and Matt lowered his hands and looked over. Richard was stood with an almost proud grin as he saw what Matt had done.

"It's time for lunch." Richard said and Matt nodded eagerly; this training was tiring him out and he was incredibly hungry. "By the way" Richard said before he left, "Ashwood is on the phone; they have news of the Last Rising." Max and Matt stood forwards.

"The _Last Rising_?" Matt repeated and Richard nodded.

"The last war."

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**That was just to get into the vibe of training and using their powers and actually getting Mia to fit in etc. Big, big thank you to MadCatta, who actually took the time to PM me to get me to update. Don't get me wrong, the reviews were definitely encouraging and I love you all for them, the PM was more a kick in the backside to get moving.  
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**As usual, reviews are appreciated and all reviews submitted to this fic are read. XD**


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